The Right Idea
by jansonpls
Summary: What if Anakin Solo had taken Kyp Durron up on his offer to join the Dozen? And strung Jaina along for the ride? Conquest AU. AnakinTahiri, KypJaina
1. the right idea?

Title sucks. This a Conquest AU, covering the whole Edge of Victory duo (eventually). After that... who knows?   
The idea is strange, and is the fault of my alternate personality, Jace (who you can read in 'The Phantom Guest', and my various MST's). So... what if everyone's favourite Hero Boy had taken Rogue Jedi up on his offer to join the Dozen, eh? Read on... (short posts... gomen)   
  
**----------**

Anakin Solo sat down heavily on his bunk in his family's quarters. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Calm. He needed calm. He shouldn't do anything when his emotions were ruling him so strongly - wasn't that what Uncle Luke taught? Or was it Jacen's philosophy... but Sith, it was so hard! 

There was no way he could just sit here and _think!_ There wasn't time! He had to _go_, he had to _help_. His friends at the Academy - most of all, Tahiri - were in danger! 

But what could he do, really? All he had was his X-wing, his lightsabre and himself. True, the last two were a formidable force against Yuuzhan Vong - but would it be enough? Just how much danger was the Academy in? 

More than he could handle alone, he was sure. But then, _how?_

An offer, made twice, came back to him. Anakin smiled grimly. A wild idea, a foolish idea, but, well... Why not? It might just help. 

----- 

Kyp Durron glanced up from his bunk as the door buzzed, mildly surprised. Oh, he had been expecting _something_, after how that meeting had gone… but not this. 

"Come in," he called to the person behind the door, and used the Force to unlock it as he sat up. 

Anakin stepped into Kyp's room, glancing round. He stood in the doorway for a moment, studying the older man carefully, warily, and then shut the door behind him. "I want to join your squadron," he said without preamble. 

Kyp's eyes widened in surprise. "Why the sudden turnaround?" 

"Because I-" Anakin hesitated. "I need your help." 

Kyp frowned and leaned forward. "And how are these two facts connected?" 

"The Academy is in danger. I need to go there to help, to warn them – fight, if the Vong are already there. I'll be going anyway," he informed Kyp, "but I could do with some backup." 

"The Academy, huh? And Master Skywalker still won't do anything?" 

Anakin clenched his fists, then breathed deeply, forcing himself to relax. He had known Kyp would be like this, and had decided to just deal with it. "He's tried. The Senate won't send anything; Jedi are a low priority at the moment. He's trying to contact Booster Terrik, but it'll take too long. Someone needs to go to Yavin 4 _now._" 

"And you're that someone, and you think my Dozen should go with you." Kyp thought about it silently for a moment, then lay back on his bunk again, sighing. "Tell you what, Anakin. You convince your sister to join you, and I'm in." 

Anakin frowned. "Jaina? Why?" 

Kyp glanced at him, grinning. "Who wouldn't want two of the best starfighter pilots in the galaxy in his squadron? Jedi at that… Why do you think I keep offering you guys a place? I'm serious." 

Anakin shook his head. "She won't go for it. She's still a Rogue." 

"I think she will. Rogue Squadron are still keeping her out because of her eyes, right? That's not a problem with me – I've got confidence in her piloting abilities, even without perfect vision, though I'm sure she's recovered now. She wants to fly, she wants to fight; she can do that in my squadron." 

"You're serious." 

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be? This way, we all get what we want: I get the two best fighter pilots in the galaxy; you get to go save the Academy; and Jaina gets to fly." 

Anakin swallowed. _This isn't what I came here for… is it?_ He just wanted Kyp's help for the Academy. He didn't want to have to work out a deal. 

"Well?" 

Anakin hesitated a moment longer, then nodded. "I'll try and convince Jaina." 

"Do or do not, young Solo," Kyp said with a smirk. "There is no try." 

----- 

"No," Jaina said flatly, turning away from Anakin and back to the mess of equipment all over her desk. 

Anakin opened his mouth to plead with her, closed it and shrugged. "Fine, I'll go tell Kyp that and we'll-" 

"Kyp? As in, Durron?" Jaina was curious now. "What's _he_ got to do with this?" 

"Oh, did I not mention that part?" Anakin grinned. "I'm joining the Dozen." 

"No," Jaina repeated firmly, turning to face him again. "No way, Anakin." 

"What, and you're going to stop me? Don't tell me _you_ haven't thought about it." 

"No, I've not. That's not the way to do this, Anakin-" 

"Are you kidding me? It's the only way!" There was a fire in Anakin's ice-blue eyes now, a determined expression on his face. "If we don't go to Yavin 4 _now_, prepared to fight, then who knows what kind of danger the Academy will be in!" 

Jaina tried to keep her voice calm. "Uncle Luke's taking care of it, little brother. He'll get Booster Terrik and Karrde and it'll be taken care of." 

"It's not enough, Jaina. Who knows how long _that_ could take! There's danger _now._ The Peace Brigade are out for Jedi, and if they have a list like Uldir said, then they'll know where the Academy is, too! It's in danger and we have to go." 

"We can't-" 

"The _Academy_, Jaina! Your friends are there, _my_ friends are there." Anakin hesitated for a second – he didn't like to use Kyp's words, but it was becoming obvious he needed another point in this argument. "You'll get to fly again, Jaina, in a squadron. In the _best_ squadron. You're itching to fly again, I know it, and you can do that in the Dozen, without the red tape Rogue Squadron has to adhere to." 

Jaina stared at him, a look of incredulity on her face. "The Dozen? _No,_ Anakin. I'm still in Rogue Squadron." 

"They're not letting you fly, though, are they? Your vision's fine now, and they know it. Red tape, Jaina – the Vong are after Jedi, especially Solos, and Darklighter knows that as well as anyone." 

"Gavin wouldn't-" 

"You know that's why, Jaina." Anakin studied his sister for half a second, then shrugged. "Kyp's offering you a place in his squadron because he knows you're fine and that flying – fighting – in this war is important to you. Is it? What do I tell him? You want a place? Yes or no, Jaina." 

Jaina took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No, Anakin. Uncle Luke told us not to go, and I'm listening to him. You should try it once in your life." 

Anakin nodded slowly, sadly, as if he had expected that answer. "So politics and rules are more important to you than the Academy and fighting – more important than _flying,_ Jaina, flying." He turned and walked towards the door, keying it open, and stood in the doorway for a moment. He turned back and looked at Jaina, his determined gaze burning into her eyes. "If you change your mind and realise where your priorities are, then join me – join us. We're leaving in an hour. See you round, Jay." 

And he walked out, leaving Jaina annoyed, confused, and wondering if maybe – _maybe_ – Anakin and Kyp had the right idea after all. 


	2. a little unfair

-This part borrows a little from Conquest (who am I kidding, the whole thing does, it being a Conquest AU and all), so props to the awesomeness that is Greg Keyes. He roxxorz in so many ways it's unreal.   
-Don't own Star Wars, or Anakin, or Kyp, or Jaina, or anyone. I just love 'em all. 

**----------**

Anakin sighed as he entered the hangar, noting immediately the distinct lack of Jaina's Force signature. So she definitely wasn't coming. _So much for that; guess I'll have to go to Yavin myself._

He looked up in shock as he finally noticed Kyp Durron, leaning against the side of his own X-wing and studying Anakin closely. Anakin quickly stowed the bag of equipment he'd brought into the small hold of his X-wing, and ran across to where Kyp stood. 

"The rest of the Dozen are prepping their fighters just now, almost ready to go," Kyp told him without greeting. "Where's your sister?" 

Anakin glanced downwards, then looked up again. "She's not coming." 

"She's not?" Kyp sounded surprised. 

"She decided that being good is more important to her than saving her friends. And even flying," he added bitterly. 

"Really?" Kyp frowned thoughtfully. "She said that?" 

"Not in so many words… but that's the general idea." 

"Uh huh…" Kyp shrugged. "Guess we'll have to manage without her." 

Anakin looked up in shock. "You'll still come with me?" 

Kyp grinned. "What, you think I'd bail out on you this late? I'll go, kid, and the Dozen'll come with me anywhere. The Academy's important. Hopefully we'll be able to save it, even without the almighty Jaina Solo to help." 

Anakin nodded and opened his mouth to thank him, but was interrupted by the noise of someone running quickly – and loudly – towards the two of them, and a crash as said person skidded not-quite-quickly-enough to a halt in front of Kyp's fighter. 

Rubbing her forehead, Jaina turned to face Anakin, ignoring Kyp's indignant complaints about an invisible dent in his ship. "Sorry I'm late, little brother. Had to sort a few things, bribe Jacen not to tell Uncle Luke, you know…" 

"You- you're coming?" 

Jaina grinned and reached up – mildly surprised to find how high she had to reach – to ruffle his hair. "Can't let you go alone, can I? Someone's got to look out for you, and I'm not trusting _him_ to do that." Jaina turned at that and looked at Kyp pointedly. 

Kyp gave up searching for the dent he was sure Jaina had made in his X-wing, and turned round to face the two Solos again. He studied Jaina for a moment, a blank expression on his face. He looked her up and down, tilted his head to the other side as he considered, and then grinned suddenly. "Good to have you aboard, kid. Both of you, go get your fighters prepped and ready to go. Leaving in ten." He nodded towards the other side of the hangar, then turned and climbed up into his own fighter before either sibling could reply. 

Jaina glared up at Kyp for a moment, before turning to run to her own X-wing. She wasn't a _kid_, she was an adult now, and damned if Kyp Durron was going to get away with calling her that. 

Damned if he was going to get away with that stupid grin, too. It made her sick. At least, it certainly made something feel strange in her stomach. _Probably gag reflex. Ugh, I just want to throw up when I look at him. Infuriating man… Anakin, why oh why did you have to join him? Huh._

_He's on our side, Jay, and he's the only one willing to go fight. Fighting for what's right is important, and no one else seems bothered with that._

And Sithspit, did she hate it Anakin read her thoughts like that. _Stupid sibling bond._

_You know you love me really, sis._

_Don't I just…_ Jaina sighed as she finished the final pre-flight checks on her X-wing, and settled down into the oh-so-comfortable and familiar cockpit. Alright, she was stuck with these guys now and as much as she hated them, they were good. _Might as well make the most of it._

----- 

A loud alarm ringing in Anakin's ear brought him out of his trance. Shaking the last remains of it from his mind, he opened his eyes and studied his HUD for a moment. "What's going on, Fiver?" 

FIVE MINUTES UNTIL REVERSION TO REALSPACE. 

Ah, so they were nearly at Yavin now. Finally. Reaching out with the Force, Anakin felt the reassuring presence of his sister beside him, Kyp Durron on the other side, and the other eleven fighter pilots in formation around them. 

For the first time since realising the Academy was in danger, Anakin was nervous. He wasn't quite sure what to expect, what kind of force would be waiting for them. Would the Yuuzhan Vong be there already? Would there be Peace Brigaders, staking out the fourth moon? Or would the system be empty besides the thirty or so attendees of the Academy, and their teachers, Kam and Tionne? 

He fiercely hoped it was the last one, that the system would turn out to be empty of any threat, and that he was just over reacting. Yes, that was certainly the preferred option. Unfortunately, Anakin knew it was the least likely. His dreams had never been that wrong before. 

_Then maybe now would be a good time for them to start being wrong._

Anakin sighed and prepared himself for – what? Anything. Being prepared for anything was always a good idea. As the stars winked back into existence around him, he reached out with the Force to try and sense what, exactly, he had to be prepared for. 

"Alright, Dozen, keep an eye out for trouble. I've got nothing on sensors so far, but there's definitely something up. We'll get closer to the fourth moon and check things out from there. If nothing turns up, we'll work it out then." 

Kyp's voice was cautious, and Anakin knew he was reaching out, too. He was right; there was _something_ wrong… Like there was something out of place. With his eyes closed and his attention fixed on what he could feel through the Force, Anakin could sense the buzz of life on the jungle moon. He felt the plant and animal life, like dust obscuring his senses, but he could make out the children at the Academy, training and relaxing. He could sense Kam and Tionne, strong as always, instructing the children with help from Master Ikrit. And most of all, he could feel his best friend, Tahiri, burning so bright in his senses that everything else was dull and almost lifeless in comparison. 

Thoughts of Tahiri were shoved to the back of Anakin's mind a second later, however, when a sensor sweep – now that they were closer to the moon – revealed a ship, lying in wait a few hundred kilometres away. It was a light transport, Corellian in origin, but without a broadcasting ID. Suspicious. 

Anakin heard a click and a brief burst of static as Kyp switched from squadron to general frequency. "Transport, identify yourself and your purpose in the Yavin system." 

After a pause, the comm system crackled in reply. "Who do you think you are?" 

Anakin sensed Kyp's amusement, but also an underlying determination. "I'm pretty sure I'm Kyp Durron, and this is my Dozen. You want to try telling us who _you_ are now?" 

"Miners. Just mining for Corusca gems." 

Anakin glanced over to the other ship, frowned and switched to general frequency himself. "What, without a trawler?" 

"Kid's right," Kyp agreed. "Where's your trawler?" 

There was another silence, longer this time, and then the voice spoke up again, an angrier tone to it. "Fools. We can see the moon now, and the temple. Your Jedi mind tricks have failed you." 

"Peace Brigade," someone murmured over the squadron frequency. "Little Brother was right." 

Anakin scowled at the comm, annoyed at the call sign Jaina had given him. Even through the worry and grim determination surrounding the squadron now, at the presence of the Peace Brigade, he could sense his sister's amusement. 

"Failed us?" Kyp was saying over the comm. "Nothing's failed us yet. You go back and tell your employers that if they want the Academy, they're going to have to come up with something better than you guys." 

There was a short, humourless laugh from the comm, and then the snarling voice came back. "You think so? You're a fool, Durron. We'll take you and those Jedi on the surface. You don't stand a chance." 

Kyp was, rather inexplicably to Anakin, still extremely amused. "I don't? Go on then. Try it." 

Anakin sensed the laser shot an instant before the scarlet beam exploded from the other ship, and felt rather than heard his sister's cry of warning. He looked out of the left side of the viewport, dreading what he might see there – and sure enough, Kyp's fighter was gone. 

Instead of being in formation beside him, it was drifting lazily to a halt a kilometre away. 

Anakin glared at the X-wing as he felt Kyp's continuing amusement, and a brief reassuring touch through the Force, directed not at him, but Jaina. Reaching out to his other side, Anakin felt his sister, partly worried, but mostly annoyed, and almost laughed. He switched his comm to a private frequency. "You alright, Jaina?" 

"If he does that again, I swear I'll kill him." 

Anakin laughed as he turned back to the scene at hand. Lines of text were scrolling up his display as Fiver fed him information from sensors, mostly regarding the weapons on the other ship. It wasn't armed very heavily, but the strength of the shields made up for that. It really was a mining ship; it was just the Peace Brigade who had decided to mine something other than gems. 

Anakin heard another click as Kyp switched back to squadron frequency, having given up on the other ship. "Okay, Dozen, take them out. They seem to be the only ship in system, but again, keep your guard up. There might be more on the other side of the planet, so be careful. Lead out." 

Anakin had to hand it to the Dozen; they were all good pilots. Within minutes, the ship's lasers, sublight and hyperspace drives were disabled, and the cargo hold had been blasted open and was venting atmosphere and something that looked a lot like blasters. The squadron, on the other hand, had sustained no damage other than a minor nick in Seven's left S-foil. 

Kyp's voice came over the comm once again. "So you guys going to tell us what you're up to now?" 

"Tatooine frozen over?" came the obnoxious reply. 

"You guys are…" Kyp's muttering trailed off as suddenly, twelve white blips suddenly appeared on Anakin's sensors, a few hundred kilometres off from the other transport. Scanning them, he quickly saw that they weren't Yuuzhan Vong ships, but a random collection of old fighters, light transports and corvettes. These ships, however, were much more equipped for battle. 

"Alright, Dozen," Kyp said decisively, switching back to squadron frequency once again, "we can take them." 

"Lead, are you crazy? There's twelve of them, and they're a lot bigger than us, with better shielding and longer range weapons!" 

"I know it's a little unfair, Sticks, fourteen to twelve, but we'll play nice. Plus, we'll even up the odds by not having Little Brother." 

Anakin ignored his sister's indignation through the Force, and directed a question to Kyp. "Why, where am I going to be?" 

"You're going down to the surface, of course. Tell Solusar that we're up here with the Brigade, and that Karrde'll be on the way with help soon. He _will_ be soon, right?" 

"Yeah," Anakin replied absently as he brought his X-wing round, snub nose facing the jungle moon. He flicked the switch to close up his S-foils, told Fiver to keep up the sensor sweeps for any more enemy ships, and hit the throttle to speed off towards Yavin 4, the Academy, and Tahiri. "Real soon." 

-- 


	3. feeling sick?

--some things about this chapter bug me... and in the next one... I must spend some time re-reading Conquest and checking up stuff...   
--remember, no matter how much I wish I did, I don't own Anakin, Kyp or Jaina. But I do own Alli. :P 

---------- 

Jaina watched her little brother's fighter dwindle off into the distance, a stark grey contrast against the rich viridian of jungle. She tried to shake off the intense feeling of uneasiness and concentrate on the battle at hand. No good worrying about Anakin right now; he'd already proven many times that he could take care of himself, and all Jaina needed was to let an unchecked worry distract her and get her shot down. 

_Something_ told her to swerve quickly to the left, and as she jammed her stick port side she saw a flash of scarlet out of the corner of her eye, followed swiftly by a battered E-wing. With a vague, inexplicable note of annoyance, Jaina realised it was Kyp who had warned her through the Force, and she frowned to herself as she jinked out of the way of more laser blasts. 

"Got your back, Sticks," a female voice told Jaina. An instant later, as Jaina swerved round in a seemingly random manoeuvre, a Z-95 Headhunter exploded in a flash of brilliant light, causing Jaina's viewport to darken momentarily. 

"Thanks, Two," she said quickly, swinging her own fighter round to find a target. 

"Sticks," Kyp's voice came over her comm, "you're with me and Two, since your brother's not here. Can't let you wander round aimlessly like that much longer." 

"Oh, what an offer," Jaina muttered sarcastically, even as she hit the thrusts a little to bring her X-wing in line with the other two. _Bad enough I felt guilty and convinced myself to come; now I'm wingmate to Kyp Durron?_ "Brilliant." 

"Yeah, I thought so too. That freighter, on my mark. Three, two, one, and mark." 

Jaina obligingly let a volley of shots loose in the direction of a nearby Corellian freighter, weakening its shields but not penetrating through to the hull. The ship was similar to her father's _Millennium Falcon_, but smaller with a slightly different shape, and much less speed. It was slow and bulky, and though its firepower was formidable – which it was proving constantly by scoring hits here and there against the Dozen – its manoeuvrability was poor, making it an easy target for the nimble X-wings. 

Jaina followed Kyp in closer towards the ship, close enough that the batteries weren't much of a problem, and any weak points in the hull structure would be easily visible. With a little help from the Force, Jaina found the location of the shield generator and hammered at the spot with her lasers until it blasted apart, bringing the ship's shields down to zero. Instantly, a volley of shots from Kyp's fighter, aimed at the engine room, broke through the hull and blew up the sublight drive, causing the whole of the rear of the ship to explode, and doing heavy damage to the cockpit area. The pilots weren't going to be flying anything again any time soon. 

"All right, good job, Sticks. You and Two, on my wing again and we'll go for that corvette further out." 

Jaina shrugged mentally. "Sure thing, Lead." 

There was a moment's pause, then Kyp's voice came over the comm again. "Two?" No answer. "Uh, Two, you're out of range, right?" 

Jaina scanned the sensors on her HUD and frowned. Just less than a thousand kilometres away, three or four E-wings and Headhunters had ganged up on an X-wing, keeping it stuck in within that zone and unable to escape. A quick ID scan confirmed it as Dozen Two. "Over there, Kyp," Jaina told him, routing the co-ordinates to him through her astromech. 

"New priority," he said shortly, bringing his fighter in an about turn and heading towards the dogfight at top speed. "Get those fighters off her." 

Jaina nodded to herself, clicking her comm and followed him towards the battle zone. She tried to get a lock on one of the E-wings, but it was changing directions so quickly that it was impossible. Not to mention the X-wing, whose pilot was taking her through a desperate series of manoeuvres to try and escape. Annoyingly, this meant that every time Jaina got a lock on one of the enemy fighters, Two's fighter would fly into her crosshair and shooting would be unthinkable. 

"Two, what are you _doing_? Get out of there! Sticks and I will take care of the fighters, you just-" 

"Can't." Two's voice was full of static; something had blown her transponder, causing it to short every other second. "Shields gone. Fuel's leaking. I'm going to blow, Lead." 

"What? No!" Jaina could hear an edge of desperation in Kyp's voice, and distress in his Force signature, despite his shields. "We'll get the fighters! You just try not to get hit, we'll destroy them, and then you're out." 

"Even a Corellian wouldn't take those odds. I'm out of it, Lead. Maybe if I blow now, before the fuel's all gone, I'll take these fighters out myself. You and Sticks get clear." 

"That's crazy! Don't even think it-" 

"Blaster's aimed at the canister, Lead. Get out of there." 

"No way." In his frustration, Kyp let loose a few laser shots, managing to nick the shields of one of the E-wings. It wasn't enough to do any real damage though. 

"Fine. Your shields can take the explosion from that distance. Two out." 

Jaina watched on in horror as the X-wing's fuel canisters blew – with help from the pilot – and the ship exploded, obscuring the enemy fighters in a cloud of gas and fire. 

"_Alli!_" Kyp's voice was a scream at his wingmate, impossible as it was for her to hear. The fighter and pilot were long gone, and as the canopy of Jaina's X-wing returned to normal transparency, she saw that Two's "crazy" plan had worked – all but one of the enemy fighters were destroyed, and the lone Headhunter was heavily damaged. 

Even so, Jaina felt a surge of guilt, and renewed grief over her own wingmate's death a few months earlier. This pilot had saved her life earlier in the battle, and once again, Jaina had failed to return the favour; failed to look out for her wingmate. Never mind that Two had blown herself – if only Jaina had noticed her predicament _earlier_, if she had only been paying _attention_. 

Kyp's fighter zoomed past her, fast in pursuit of the remaining Headhunter as it tried to escape to one of the transports. _Not your fault, Sticks. Mine._

It took Jaina a moment to realise he hadn't spoken over the comm. 

Gritting her teeth determinedly, Jaina brought her fighter round to follow Kyp and the Headhunter back into the battle, where the remaining larger ships were scoring more and more hits against the Dozen. That was two wingmates she'd failed now; she wasn't going to make it three, even if the third _was_ Kyp Durron. 

The rest of the battle went fairly well. By the time Jaina and Kyp returned to where the rest of the Dozen were fighting, the enemy fighters had all been destroyed and the only ships remaining were the original corvette, still out of action, and a larger ship that was easily taken care of when the Dozen combined firepower. 

As debris seemed to float around them, and a single escape pod from the original ship fell away in a curve towards Yavin 4 – undoubtedly, if it landed near the Temple, Kam would handle it – the Dozen regrouped in orbit around the moon. Jaina could feel Kyp's grief through the Force, though he was trying to control it, and it tore her up inside. _I should have noticed Two was in trouble… I should have helped…_

"Alright, Dozen, good job with the Brigade." Kyp's voice was steady as normal, and Jaina knew she was the only one who could sense his pain. "We don't know when the Vong will show up – as they will, without a doubt – so we'll stay in system until the kids are out." There was a short pause before Kyp spoke again. "Sticks, you take them down to the surface, since you know where to land in the Temple." 

"What?" Jaina was confused at Kyp's order, and a little worried at the same time. "Why, what are you doing?" 

"I need to… scout the system, to make sure there are no more ships. On the other side of Yavin. Or further out. You can handle the Dozen for an hour or so." 

"Yeah, but-" 

"Lead out." 

Jaina bit at her bottom lip, watching through the canopy as Kyp left formation and flew towards the gas giant. Scouting the system… There were no more ships in the system at all, Jaina could see that on her sensors _and_ feel it through the Force. Sensors didn't show any Yuuzhan Vong ships, either… _No… he just needs to… fly…_ And Jaina understood that perfectly. 

"Uh, Sticks? Solo?" 

Jaina shook her head to clear her thoughts, and turned her attention back to the comm unit. "Sorry… OK, Dozen, co-ordinates for the Temple here-" She instructed her astromech, Cappie, to route them through to everyone. "-and follow me for the landing zone. Uh… Sticks out." 

She really hoped that Kyp managed to figure out whatever it was he had to figure out, and came back safe. This squadron leader lark wasn't something she was sure she could get used to. 

----- 

Anakin shifted his weight from foot to foot, slightly nervous. He was waiting in the Temple hangar for the Dozen to land. When he had landed earlier, he had – after his identity had been confirmed – been greeted by Kam, and led to the rec room to talk. After being run over by Tahiri in the hallway, that is. 

Joined by Tionne and Master Ikrit, the Jedi had listened to Anakin as he told them about the Peace Brigade in orbit, and that, even though the Dozen would take care of those ships, the Yuuzhan Vong wouldn't be far behind. Kam had nodded sadly, as if already aware of the danger the Academy was in, and Tionne gripped his hand tight as if to reassure them both. 

The conversation had taken up most of the last half hour, and only a few minutes more had passed before Anakin sensed his sister's relief that the battle was over. He had passed this on to the others, and while Tionne went back to gather and reassure the Jedi students, Kam, Tahiri and Ikrit had gone with Anakin to the hangar. 

Anakin felt Tahiri's sudden apprehension, and even as he looked out into the late afternoon sky to see what was there, he smiled at the bond of friendship between the two of them. Even after he had spent so long away, it was reassuring to know that he could come back to Tahiri and their friendship would remain strong. At least, he was sure it would – something in it, either from Tahiri or himself, seemed different… But there was no time to work that out just now. 

Squinting against the orange glow of Yavin, Anakin could see the eleven fighters of the squadron drawing closer… _Wait a minute… Eleven?_ Last time Anakin knew, there were fourteen pilots in total – the Dozen, plus himself and Jaina. Since he was on the ground, there should be thirteen ships coming in to land… But he could definitely only see eleven. 

He frowned thoughtfully and recounted the X-wings as they came in, landing in the almost empty hangar. For some peculiar reason, he noted that Jaina's fighter seemed to be the one in command position. He couldn't think of any plausible reason for this, and tried not to dwell on it. 

A minute later, Jaina was standing in front of him, her flightsuit creased and her helmet tucked under her arm. To Anakin, she looked extremely weary, far more than just one battle should have made her. He frowned again and looked behind her to the other Dozen pilots. They were glancing round the hangar, and every single one of them looked as if they felt very out of place. They grouped together behind Jaina nervously, and Anakin noticed a distinct lack of Kyp. 

"Uh… uh, how'd the battle go?" he asked his sister eventually. 

Jaina sighed. "The Peace Brigade are gone, if that's what you mean." She glanced over her shoulder at the other pilots and winced. "Um, do you guys want to go, uh, somewhere and let us talk in private for a minute?" 

The pilots' whispering stopped and they shared glances. Rolling his eyes, one fair-haired human spoke up for them all. "Where?" 

Jaina looked lost for a second and shrugged. She turned to Kam. "Where can they go?" 

Kam looked thoughtful for a moment, glanced round cryptically, then nodded to himself. "Valin," he called to the hangar. 

There was a clattering of tools from somewhere behind the Jedi, and Tahiri jumped, nudging Anakin's shoulder by accident. A brief pause, as if whatever ghoul haunting the hangar had decided to hold his breath and wait, then- 

"Valin, I know you're there trying to spy." Kam rolled his eyes and turned to look at a pile of crates in the corner of the hangar. "Come out and take these pilots down to the rec room for me." 

The crates sighed, and then a tall, dark-haired boy stepped out from behind them. "All right, Master Solusar. Sorry for trying to spy," he added, mumbling. With the air of someone whose most brilliant plan had just been shot down, he walked over to the hangar exit and the turbolift beyond. He paused for a moment in the doorway, then turned and waved at the pilots in frustration. "Well, hurry up then." 

Extremely bemused to be following a twelve-year-old boy, the ten pilots left the hangar with a last glance at Jaina. A moment passed as the Jedi listened to the fading mutterings of Valin and the amused chatter of the pilots, and then there was silence, and all five of the original group were once again staring at Jaina. 

"So…" Anakin started again, hesitantly. "Where's Kyp?" 

Jaina bit at her bottom lip nervously. "He's… scouting the system. To make sure there are no more ships out there, and no Yuuzhan Vong already in system." 

Kam frowned. "Should he be doing that alone?" 

Jaina seemed momentarily taken aback, then shrugged. "He'll be OK. I'll sense if there's anything wrong." 

"Will you?" Kam seemed surprised at that. "I can't sense him from here… how far is he?" 

"Uh…" Jaina frowned to herself, and Anakin sensed she was confused at that. He couldn't sense Kyp from here either, but it seemed Jaina definitely could. "Uh, I'm not sure…" 

"Hm. Do you think there are any more ships?" 

Jaina shook her head. "I'm pretty sure we got them all. Uh, Kyp just wanted to make sure," she added quickly. 

Anakin was getting more and more confused by the second. Jaina could sense Kyp, and she was covering for him for _something_… but top of the list was why, in all the stars of the galaxy, had he handed control of the squadron to _Jaina_? "And… how come you're in charge then? I thought, strangely enough, Two was second-in-command?" 

Jaina's face darkened at that, and Anakin caught a spike of guilt from her through the Force. "She didn't make it." 

"Oh." Anakin waited, but Jaina didn't elaborate. "Oh," he repeated, adding, "sorry." He hadn't known Kyp's wingmate at all, but she'd seemed an OK kind of person, and a good pilot. 

Jaina didn't answer him; merely nodded. Her guilt didn't diminish though, and Anakin wondered why she felt so bad about it. He knew she had lost a wingmate before, but that was months ago, and hadn't she been angry rather than guilt-ridden? Not that either was a very smart reaction. The dark side could be particularly potent during times of grief, Anakin knew. He didn't want his sister to fall into that trap. Maybe joining Kyp Durron hadn't been such a great idea after all… Oh sure, Anakin knew Kyp wasn't dark side at all now, but he _did_ walk the line a little close, and if Jaina was feeling so guilty and angry with herself… would she take his methods too far? 

_Ridiculous._ Anakin shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and glanced back at his sister. _She's just as wary of the dark side as me. She's just upset just now. She'll get over it; she always does._ Yes, that was Jaina alright – she wouldn't let anything get the better of her for long. Even the dark side. _Especially_ the dark side. 

Anakin felt pressure on his hand, and a reassuring touch on his mind. He glanced down to Tahiri at his side, and smiled. 

_Lost in your head again, hero boy?_

_Sorry…_

"Hmph. Well, now Jaina's back, can we go get something to eat?" Tahiri turned from Anakin to face Jaina and the others. "I mean, we're about an hour overdue for supper, and I want to get down there before Valin eats everything in sight. Tionne better not have cooked everything already." 

Kam rolled his eyes and gave Tahiri a chastising look. "There are more important things going on than meal times, Tahiri." 

"I know that!" Tahiri told him indignantly. "But supper's pretty important too." 

Kam sighed exasperatedly, but couldn't help a small smile. "Of course. I'm sure Tionne kept some food away from Valin for the rest of us. Let's get down to the canteen then." He glanced at Jaina. "If you want to clean up and change before the meal, you can use your old room. It's still free." 

Jaina smiled wistfully. "Is it? Huh… um, actually, I think I'll wait here a while. I'm not too hungry just now anyway." 

Anakin stared at his sister, unable to believe his ears. Jaina? Not hungry? But they hadn't really eaten since leaving Coruscant, and that was almost half a day ago. In fact, probably closer to a whole day, with nothing but a meagre ration pack to keep them going during the hyperspace journey. Not hungry? _She'd rather wait here – for Kyp – than come get a decent meal?_ OK, _now_ Anakin was worried. 

Kam didn't seem to share the feeling. The older man nodded and turned towards the turbolift. "We'll keep some supper for you, then, and Kyp, if he wants it. Come on, Anakin, Tahiri." 

Tahiri shrugged Anakin's arm away from her shoulder and grinned at him quickly, before running off towards the turbolift, reaching it before Kam. Anakin smiled softly, then glanced at Jaina. "Um… don't wait too long, Jay. He might stay out there all night or something…" 

Jaina flushed slightly and glared up at her younger brother. "What makes you think I'm waiting for Kyp? Maybe I just want to enjoy some fresh air for a while." 

Anakin blinked, wary of this sudden denial from his sister. "Alright, Jaina, I'm just saying… be careful." 

"Careful? What are you talking about?" 

Anakin shrugged. He couldn't exactly say, _don't go to the dark side_, could he? But was that what he was really worried about? Of course it was. He was just a little confused on top of that, and was trying not to let it get to him. "Just make sure you come get some supper before it rots away." 

Jaina rolled her eyes, and turned away to face the jungle, looking out among the vibrant colours and ignoring her brother's curious stare. "Sure, little brother. Whatever you say." 

Still worried and unable to explain to himself why, Anakin turned to head over to the turbolift, where Tahiri was animatedly explaining something to Kam. He stopped suddenly when he noticed Master Ikrit, a few feet away, studying him curiously. A moment passed, and Ikrit sighed, shaking his big head sadly. "Such a shame," he murmured. 

That confused Anakin immensely. "A shame? What's a shame?" 

"Destiny," Ikrit answered quietly, before turning away and scampering over to join Tahiri and Kam at the turbolift. 

_Alright, Anakin, this day is getting more confusing by the minute. Just don't let yourself think about any of it, and maybe it'll simplify, just like another equation. Confusion plus strangeness plus total absurdity equals life, right?_ Anakin groaned to himself as he reached the turbolift, and joined the other three inside. That sure was _his_ life, anyway. 

Was everyone else's life like this? Or was it just a Solo-Skywalker thing? 

----- 

Jaina sighed and hugged her knees close to her chest again, as she sat leaning against the cool stones of the temple wall. Now what? 

Anakin's objective had been achieved... Kyp's Dozen had defeated the Peace Brigade hanging around the system, and Talon Karrde would be here to pick up the kids and their Masters before the Yuuzhan Vong arrived. They had a few days before the Vong would show up, anyway... 

So, the kids were safe. The Temple, well, probably not - but the Academy wasn't a place, it was just a - an atmosphere. Anywhere Jedi could learn... would be an Academy. Whether it was on Coruscant, or on Karrde's ship, or Booster Terrik's _Errant Venture_, if he ever showed up... 

So now what was Jaina going to do? She would return home to Coruscant, that's what, dragging her little brother with her if she had to. But then... no, she couldn't just _leave_, could she? Three times... she didn't want to make it three times... she didn't want to fail another wingmate... 

Jaina forced herself to slow down and rethink that for a moment. Since when was Kyp Durron her wingmate? OK, sure, she'd flown with him against the Peace Brigade just then, but only for one battle. It wasn't worth anything... But then, why did she feel like it was? Why did it seem like, if she left now, she would be abandoning him? And why did she care? Kyp Durron, of all people... if there was anyone worth abandoning, it was him. 

She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts. It was no use dwelling on it yet - she would find out what Anakin planned to do first. Now that he was reunited with Tahiri, he probably wouldn't want to go with the Dozen again anyway. He wouldn't leave his best friend again. 

"Just one mission," she murmured. "I'm not in the Dozen, just flew one mission..." 

She glanced up and to the left, in time to see Kyp's fighter returning, growing larger against the dull orange sunset. She stood up and brushed herself down as he landed, thinking, _I really should have cleaned up before waiting here._ Then she wondered why she cared that much. 

There was a few moments' pause after the X-wing docked, and then a loud silence as the repulsors cut off. Another second passed as Kyp finished off his post-flight checks, and then the canopy opened. Kyp stood up and pulled off his helmet, stood frozen in the cockpit for a second, then decided it wasn't worth the effort and collapsed into his seat again. 

Jaina frowned. He had been out flying since the end of the battle, almost two hours ago. The death – _my fault_ - of his wingmate had obviously hit him hard. She couldn't recall him being this upset before, even over Miko's death just over a year earlier. "Kyp!" 

"Huh?" Kyp leaned over the edge of his cockpit to see Jaina standing there a few feet away. He passed a hand over his face and sighed. "Jaina. What are you doing here?" 

So he hadn't even felt her in the Force. Were her shields that good? "Waiting for you to get back. You were out there a long time... Are you - I mean, was..." Jaina sighed and went with the obvious question. "Are you all right?" 

"Me? Huh. No, but I will be." 

"Good, because you left me in charge of your squadron there, and I wasn't going to take them on if you killed yourself, you know." 

Kyp laughed shortly, and shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't - I just had to stay out there for a while. You know..." 

"Yeah." There was a longer pause, and Jaina frowned at how uncomfortable it felt. "Well, are you coming down or what? I think the evening meal's over, but we can probably find something to eat down there. Unless you're too depressed to eat." 

Kyp half-smiled; not his usual smirk, which almost worried Jaina. "No." He hesitated a second, then- "You skipped dinner to wait for me?" 

_Oh, Sith, so I did_. "I guess so." 

Kyp nodded and jumped down from his fighter, using the Force to cushion his landing. "Alright then, Dozen Two. To the canteen." 

Jaina froze and turned to look at Kyp. "Two?" 

Kyp closed his eyes for a moment longer than a blink, opened them and shrugged. "If you want the position." 

"What about-" 

"She wouldn't want me to- look, I just... I'm not sure I want to talk about Alli just now. Maybe..." He glanced at his fighter, then out into the darkening Yavin sky. "She went out on her own terms and that should be enough for me. So..." Kyp turned back to Jaina and met her gaze. "I need a new wingmate and... you don't have to stay, but I'd like it." 

Jaina bit at her bottom lip, her eyes fixed on Kyp's. She'd just gone over this herself, hadn't she? And decided... no... she hadn't really come to a decision. She couldn't now, either. But she couldn't abandon him now, right? "I don't know, Kyp... I'm still-" 

"A Rogue, I know." He shrugged and turned away, heading towards the turbolift and the canteen. "I just thought... never mind." 

Jaina ran after him, catching up just as he reached the turbolift. "Kyp, I just mean I have to think about it. And Anakin-" 

"What's to think about? Rogue Squadron have all but dropped you." The turbolift door closed behind the two of them, and Kyp leaned back against the wall, opposite Jaina. "I know you might not think that, but it's true. But the Dozen... there'll always be a place for you in the Dozen, Jaina, on my wing. We make a good team, right?" 

"Maybe..." 

"So you want the position?" 

Jaina squeezed her eyes shut, trying to sort through the confusion in her mind. She did and she didn't, and somehow, it was for the same reasons. Yes, she flew well in a team with Kyp, that much was evident from the battle hours earlier. But she didn't _want_ to fly well with Kyp, she wanted to fly well in Rogue Squadron. And then there was the other reason, the reason that still twisted at her stomach, making her feel sick and excited at the same time. "Don't make me decide right now," she pleaded. 

She felt Kyp's eyes on her, studying her for a long moment, and felt _something_ - frustration, desperation, she wasn't sure - from him through the Force. After another moment, he looked away. "Sure. Until Karrde's people arrive, then. The Dozen'll be staying on-planet 'til then." 

Jaina nodded silently, concentrating on the floor of the turbolift by her feet. She had to work this out, she had to decide, she had to figure out what Anakin was going to do, and whether she should do the same. She had to do what was right, and not be swayed by grief, or guilt, or a strange feeling in her stomach. 

If only she knew what _was_ right. 

-- 


	4. mission impossible

--some introspection and annoyance for Kyp, and the introduction of a cool OC. :P Nym roxxorz, and yes, his name is taken from the Starfighter games on PS2 (and Xbox, I believe; the sucky console). You will see more of Nym in future... (insert 'knowing smile' emoticon that really just looks like the yellow face is stoned)   
--Yet again, I continue to not own Kyp, Jaina or Anakin (or any SW character). I just sorta own Nym, except for his name. 

---------- 

Maybe it hadn't been such a great idea to ask her so soon. 

Kyp frowned thoughtfully and glanced sideways at Jaina as they walked down the quiet corridor towards the rec room. She was being just as quiet; hadn't spoken a word since the turbolift, in fact. They had found two ration pack meals – apparently, the kitchen staff had left the Academy a few weeks earlier – waiting in the dining hall for them, and had eaten in silence. 

_No, I shouldn't have asked her already. Maybe I'm not ready for a new wingmate right now._

Kyp rolled his eyes. He had a feeling his brain was using a different definition of wingmate than himself. He did, of course, purely mean it in the squadron sense. Because of course, the only interest he had in Jaina was as a member of his squadron. 

_Yeah right, Kyp._

OK, maybe as a friend. 

_Try something a little more than that, Durron._

"No," he muttered to himself, ignoring Jaina's curious stare. He looked up, deciding to also ignore the taunting of his brain, and realised with a jolt that they were already at the door to the rec room. 

Kyp reached up, pulled the door open, stared, and promptly shut it again. 

"Huh?" Jaina glanced from Kyp to the door. "What's wrong?" 

"We have the wrong room," Kyp announced. "Or possibly the wrong dimension." 

"I don't get it…" 

Kyp waved her to the door and, shrugging, Jaina pulled it open and looked in for herself. Seeing her stunned expression, Kyp smirked and glanced over her shoulder into the room once again. 

Kyp knew his pilots pretty well, he thought. There was – had been – Alli, cheerful, no-nonsense kind of woman, who influenced – _had_ influenced, he reminded himself bitterly – many of the other members of his squadron; Dayvie, who would mug a Ryn if it meant he had a deck to play sabacc with; Jak, who played a mean game of dejarik and often contributed tips to strategic plans… Most of them were the kind of guys – or girls – you wouldn't mind meeting in a bright Coruscanti night club, but would probably avoid in the lower levels. Well, being part of a rather vigilante squadron bred those kind of guys. 

Which just made the scene in the rec room even stranger. 

Around the table in the far left corner, a bright, airy and generally unsuitable-looking corner, Dayvie was running a game of sabacc against three of the Jedi trainees. The Coruscanti pilot had a good sabacc face, and was generally hard to read in the Force… but the kids weren't, and by the looks of things, young Sannah was beating him pretty badly indeed. 

Jak was at the old dejarik table on the other side of the room, facing a young boy of around ten, and frowning at the pieces on the board. The boy was studying the table closely too and, with a sudden grin, made a quick move that caused Jak to swear loudly – and creatively – at him. The boy just grinned again, and saved the game into the board. 

Most of the other pilots sat in the couches and chairs dotted around the room, talking either amongst themselves, or chatting curiously with the young apprentices. Valin seemed to be in a loud argument with Adi, while Anakin and Tahiri watched with amusement. 

The youngest kids – aged around six or seven – were in the centre of the room, playing with old model ships and building blocks. The group were joined by Nym, who good-naturedly allowed the kids to crash the toy fighters into him as they "attacked" the "monster". 

"Wow," Jaina managed eventually, glancing at Kyp. "Definitely the wrong dimension." 

Kyp nodded as Jaina turned back and entered the room, making her way over to join her brother and Tahiri. He sighed and followed her in, stepping over the children as he headed over to speak with Kam and Tionne. 

Nym glanced up as Kyp passed him and brushed a toy A-wing from his head. "Save me, Lead!" he groaned as yet another X-wing "shot" him. 

Kyp smirked and shook his head. "You got yourself into it, you get yourself out." 

Nym sighed and turned back to the kids. "I'm glad that's not your battle philosophy." 

"No," Kyp agreed under his breath. 

Kam looked up from the couch as Kyp approached. He didn't stand to greet the younger man, but waved him towards the soft chair beside the couch. "You made it back from your scout then." 

"Uh, yeah. No more Peace Brigade in system." He tried to grin reassuringly, wondering fleetingly whether it was Kam or himself he was trying to reassure. 

Kam nodded. "That's good news. But still no sign of anyone to pick us up?" 

Kyp shook his head. "No sign of Karrde just yet." 

Kam pulled a face. "Talon Karrde? Don't tell me Luke's asked him to help us." 

Kyp shrugged and glanced across the room. "That's what Jaina and Anakin said." 

"Ah yes…" Kam leaned forward with interest, ignoring a suspicious glance from Tionne. "How come they're with you?" 

Kyp shrugged nonchalantly again. "Anakin wanted to come out here to help the Academy… He asked for the Dozen's help, and I gave him it." Kyp didn't mention the specifics of his deal with Anakin. He wasn't even sure of the reasons behind them anyway. 

"What's the catch?" 

"No catch. I'm allowed to be concerned about the Academy's safety too, aren't I?" Kyp frowned. "I do care about this place, you know." 

Kam looked like he was going to say something more, but Tionne's hand on his arm silenced him. He studied Kyp for a moment, as if trying to detect some malicious intent, and Kyp met his gaze determinedly. After a moment, he glanced away and back at the "space battle" between Nym and the kids on the floor. "Alright. So your Dozen will protect the Academy?" 

Kyp nodded. "Until someone arrives to pick you up, however long that'll be." 

"However long?" Kam glanced back at him curiously. "There's no pressing engagement that requires the Dozen's help in the immediate future?" 

Kyp ignored the slight – but only slight – sarcasm in Kam's voice, and shook his head. "We'll stay here – and patrol the system – until someone comes. Whether that's a couple days or a couple weeks." He wasn't really sure where these words were coming from. They were crazy. Why was he saying this; offering to stay more than a couple days? Was he really this loyal to the Academy? Was it because he'd – implicitly – promised Anakin he'd fight for the Academy? Was it to prove something to Kam, or to himself… or to Jaina? 

_The last one,_ his brain told him, and Kyp groaned inwardly. It was probably right. 

Kam nodded slowly. "Okay… Thanks. We could do with the security." 

Tionne nodded her agreement and spoke up for the first time. "We can't let anything happen to the children… Your squadron's presence here will be reassuring." 

Kyp half-smiled. "Well, it's no problem, really…" Who was he kidding? Weren't there at least twenty other locations that he could be more use at? Yeah. But none of those was the Jedi Academy, one of the few places he had ever called home… No, it was definitely worth staying here to fight for. 

Tionne continued with a smile and glanced round the room. "Your pilots are already fitting in with us, in fact." 

Kyp glanced round himself and laughed. Another trainee had joined the sabacc game, and already amassed a pile of "credits" – actually small pebbles from the jungle – larger than Dayvie's; Jak was losing in another game of dejarik against a twelve-year-old girl; and Nym had given up all pretence of a struggle and was lying on the floor, half-heartedly waving a model B-wing at the "attacking" X-wings and TIEs. 

"Yeah," he agreed, "they seem to be." 

He continued to look round the room as Kam and Tionne continued their conversation, studying each of his pilots in turn. His gaze fell on the furthest couch, where Anakin, Tahiri and Jaina sat, laughing and talking amongst themselves. After a moment, Jaina glanced up and met his eyes. She seemed momentarily unsure of herself, then smiled and turned back to her brother and his friend. 

_Okay,_ his brain started, _you feel that stomach flip and explain your definition of wingmate to me again._

"Go away," he groaned to himself. "I don't need a voice in my head talking to me about anything." 

His brain didn't answer; merely laughed evilly, making him groan again. "I especially don't need this so soon after-" 

"After what?" 

Kyp hadn't realised he was talking out loud, and looked up to see Tionne studying him closely, a worried expression on her face. "Uh… Nothing. I'm just… tired. I'm going to turn in – that is, if there's a room for me here." 

"Of course. There's an empty corridor of rooms on the next floor up that your pilots can use…" 

"Thanks." Kyp stood up before he could change his mind, nodding to Tionne as he turned to leave. He stumbled out of the room, almost tripping over Nym, and let out a sigh as the door closed behind him. "Definitely don't need this just now." 

_Need what?_ his brain asked innocently. _You're the one jumping to conclusions here._

"And you can just kriff off back to whatever wasteland you came from. I'm going upstairs and to sleep, and you're not going to be bothering me when I wake up." 

Kyp tried, as he made his way upstairs to one of the empty rooms, not to think about how insane he was slowly becoming. It would only hurt. 

----- 

Nym approached the closed door of his allocated room warily. He had woken up half an hour earlier, dressed, washed, and now intended to go down to the canteen and find some breakfast. The keyword being 'intended'. 

He stood by the door for a moment, pressing an ear to listen for the noise of padding feet or giggling voices outside – the youngest Jedi trainees had taken to stalking him, or so it seemed. After a moment of silence, Nym decided it was safe – there were no children lying in wait to ambush him when he opened the door. 

Still, he wasn't going to let his guard down, and as soon as he keyed the doorcode in, he hid just inside the doorway. Still no noise. Slowly, he poked his head outside and quickly scanned the corridor. Good. No sign of life. 

The turbolift, which led directly to the canteen a few floors below, was about twenty metres down the corridor. Still no sign of children. He could run, and risk alerting the youngest students to his awake status, or he could creep down the corridor, flat against the wall, and let the risk grow with every second. 

For the first time in his life, Nym wished he had some Jedi powers himself. 

Keying the door shut behind him, Nym took a deep breath and hesitated a second. _Not yet, not yet… now!_ He set off, sprinting down the corridor to the turbolift at the far end, hoping silently that he wouldn't be found. Not that – if he admitted it to himself – he particularly _minded_ playing with the children… He just wasn't sure he could handle another toy 'space battle' this early in the morning. 

Skidding to a halt in front of the turbolift, Nym thanked whatever being had seen fit to grant him temporary respite from the children, and hit the call button. Within seconds, the door opened and he almost fell against the inside wall, relieved as he was to have apparently made it, child-free. Barely looking at what he was doing, Nym hit the button that would take the lift down to the canteen and closed his eyes, grinning to himself. 

"Hi." 

_No, Nym, you just imagined that. There is no child in the turbolift. You're alone. Open your eyes and check._ Nym nodded to himself, opened his eyes and glanced round the 'lift. 

_Oh,_ the voice in his head continued nonchalantly, _guess I was wrong._

"You're Nym, aren't you?" The child was only a few inches shorter than Nym himself, and it was obvious that, before long, he would no longer really be a child. "You were playing with the kids yesterday, and the day before, in the rec room." 

_Kids? You're still a kid yourself,_ Nym almost said, before remembering that he really didn't want any huffy children to have to deal with. Not in the morning, anyway. "Yes," he answered instead. 

"I thought so." The boy nodded, mostly to himself. "Jysella likes you." 

Nym blinked, and tried desperately to work out who Jysella was. Unfortunately, he doubted that this was female attention worth bothering about, as the only females on-planet over eighteen were the Jedi Master Tionne – beautiful, but married – and Adi Tallen – Dozen Four – who had already rejected Nym several times in the past few months. Not that he cared, of course. Well, and there was Jaina Solo. But even if Nym was interested in her, he didn't fancy death at the hands of Han Solo. 

"Jysella's my little sister," the boy added helpfully, ignoring the pilot's crystal-clear thoughts. "She was the one with the A-wing in the rec room the other night." 

_Ah, that little – er, delightful child…_ "Well, tell her she's already showing some great piloting prowess, and I'm sure she'll be even better with a real ship. When she's older." 

The boy grinned. "Of course she'll be a great pilot, she's a Horn! But she'll be glad to know you think so." 

_Wow, that's some arrogance. Is the name supposed to mean something to me?_ "Um, OK then, kid." There was a brief pause, and Nym wondered if he should say something else, when the lift jolted to a stop. Nym looked up and had to bite his tongue to keep from hissing a triumphant _yes!_

"Nice meeting you, kid," he called back as he exited the turbolift, glad to see the boy was headed towards a different floor. 

"Valin," the boy corrected him indignantly. 

Nym waved vaguely back at him without turning round, and sighed with relief when he heard the 'lift move on to the next floor. Yeah, he definitely couldn't handle kids this early in the morning. 

As he entered the canteen through the open arch, Nym was surprised to see that only two people were in the room, sat at a table on the far side of the hall. He paused in the archway and glanced at his wrist-chrono, noticing with a wince that he hadn't actually adjusted it from Coruscant time yet. _Guess I wasn't that early for breakfast yesterday morning after all._

Nym leaned against the wall as he reset the time on his chrono, and after a moment, conversation drifted across the empty hall towards him. He looked up as he heard the familiar voice of his squadron leader, and noted with interest that the other occupant of the room was Jaina Solo. _Guess they both eat a little late in the morning. Like me,_ he added to himself with a wry smile. 

"Well… have you decided yet?" 

"What?" The young pilot sighed as she apparently realised what Kyp was getting at. "No, I told you, I can't just decide like that. It depends on a lot of things." 

"Hmph. Like what?" 

"Well, Anakin, for a start. What he decides to do. And whether the Yuuzhan Vong show up before Karrde gets here-" 

"They won't," Kyp assured her. 

"Never counted you as an optimist, Durron. You know fine well they probably will. And…" Jaina sighed again. "I just don't know. Can't you find someone else?" 

There was a short pause, and Nym realised suddenly that neither of them knew he was listening in, and that he probably shouldn't be. It all sounded pretty suspicious to him. He took a step forward, to head towards them and either stop their conversation, or find out what was going on, but Kyp's voice stopped him. 

"No one else as good as you, no." 

_Whoa boy, Nym, don't draw any conclusions from that. They could be talking about smashball partners, for all you know._ Which was a weak excuse, because Nym knew fine well that the only sport Kyp Durron was interested in was flying. 

"Don't do that, Kyp. It's not going to make anything easier for me to decide." 

_OK, this is getting a little tense. Obviously not smashball teams._ Making a quick decision, Nym strode forward, quickly approaching the occupied table. He tried to grin reassuringly at both pilots, and plonked himself down on the bench next to Jaina. "Morning." 

Jaina glanced at him nervously, and Kyp didn't greet him with his typical smirk. _Yep… definitely tense._ Now Nym was desperate to find out why. 

Jaina coughed and stood up, pushing her tray into the centre of the table for the cleaning droid to collect later. "Um, guess I'll be off. Training to do. And everything." 

Nym saw Kyp glance at Jaina's plate – still half full – and frown. "Don't go, Sticks, at least finish your breakfast." 

Jaina shook her head. "All full." She half-smiled at Nym, then walked hurriedly out of the canteen before Kyp could say anything else. Nym watched her leave, and turned to Kyp with a curious expression on his face. 

"Don't even ask," Kyp warned him. 

"Why not?" 

"Because I won't tell you." 

"But what is there not to tell me?" 

Kyp narrowed his eyes at Nym, but it was more with amusement than anger. He sighed and shrugged. "She's impossible." 

"She's a Solo," Nym reasoned. He was well acquainted with the tales – some true, some otherwise – of Han Solo. 

Kyp nodded absently, then shook his head. "Not just that. Jaina… she isn't sure she wants to join the Dozen." 

Nym frowned. "I thought she already had." 

"Hm. But how do I persuade her to stay?" 

OK, Kyp was asking him for advice. Nym wondered if, maybe, he had woken up in another universe. _That would maybe be a less embarrassing reason for my chrono being wrong, too._ "Well…" He thought for a moment. "How did you persuade me to join?" 

Kyp smirked at him. "You begged me to join, because you wanted to escape some less-than-appealing attention on Coruscant." 

Nym nodded thoughtfully, and conceded this point to Kyp. "In that case, I'm all out of ideas. Maybe you should just go crawling on hands and knees, begging her to join because the squadron would be useless without her?" 

Kyp glared at him. "You realise _you're_ part of this 'useless' squadron, don't you?" 

Nym nodded thoughtfully again. He hesitated before asking his next question. "Why do you want her in the squadron so badly, anyway?" 

Kyp shrugged nonchalantly. "Why would I want any good pilot in my squadron? Like you said, she's a Solo. Great pilot." 

_Oh, right. Well, that does make sense…_ Which in itself was unusual for Kyp, Nym thought slowly. 

"Anyway. Enough about that. What about Adi, huh?" Kyp smirked. "How are you and she getting along lately?" 

_What the-? **That's** what we were talking about?_ The situation suddenly made a whole lot more sense to Nym. Kyp wasn't just talking about Jaina sticking around as a pilot in the Dozen. He wanted her to stick around… for him. 

"Nym? You awake?" 

"Oh." Nym shook his head to try and clear it, and smiled wryly. "Me and Adi? Well… we're not _not_ getting along. We just aren't, um, the best of friends, I suppose." 

Kyp smirked knowingly. "You mean she still thinks you're a scruffy nerfherder and says she wouldn't go out with you if you were the last man in the galaxy?" 

Nym glared at the older man, then sighed. "Pretty much." 

"You know what that really means though, right?" 

Nym glanced at him, slightly suspicious. "What?" 

Kyp grinned. "She's obviously playing hard to get." 

"Hard to get," Nym repeated disbelievingly. 

Kyp nodded. "All the most successful relationships start with the woman hating the man. Han and Leia Solo, Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker… Among other examples." 

Nym frowned. "They never hated each other, did they?" 

"Heh, trust me. I hear Mara tried to kill Luke a few times." Kyp trailed off and frowned thoughtfully. "Of course, Han was a little drunk when he told me that story, so maybe not… but the point is still the same. Give Adi a little more time, convince her what a great guy you are, and then it'll all fall into place." 

Nym nodded slowly and considered it. Well, maybe it would work. If he left Adi alone for a while, maybe she would change her mind and realise that she actually did want to go out with him. "Maybe," he started carefully, "that's all Jaina needs, too." 

"What?" 

"You know… give her time, and maybe she'll decide to stick with you." 

Kyp looked at him sharply, and Nym smiled inwardly. Definitely some tension there. "In the squadron," he added airily. 

"Right, the squadron. Of course. Good idea. Give her time to decide." Kyp was still staring at Nym, eyes narrowed suspiciously, and Nym decided that he didn't want to push any limits. Only a fool would make Kyp Durron angry with him, and Nym had long ago decided he wasn't a fool. 

"Anyway," he said quickly, standing up and grabbing a couple of pieces of fruit from the bowl on the table, "I better go. Need to check a couple things on my fighter, and then hide from the kids a while longer. See you round, Lead." 

"Hmph. Remember, you and Four are patrolling the system from fourteen-hundred, right?" 

_Great, paired with Adi again. That'll be fun._ "Sure thing. Bye, then." And Nym turned, walking as fast as he could without actually running towards the exit, and the turbolift beyond. As he reached the archway exit, he almost thought he heard Kyp muttering something about following his own relationship advice. 

Almost, but not quite. 

-- 


	5. irritation

--A/T and a little K/J, hm? Nice.   
--still don't own any Star Wars characters. It's not like you can just buy them off eBay. 

---------- 

"Got you, hero boy!" 

Anakin heard Tahiri's words, but let them slip to the back of his mind as he concentrated on the rather more urgent problem of her electric blue blade fast approaching his neck. She hadn't been fooled by his feint a moment earlier; merely ignored it and casually knocked his blade sideways as she slashed her own upwards. But before the lightsabre could cut through his neck, Anakin quickly brought his own amethyst blade up inside of Tahiri's, knocking hers out and down towards the stone tiles of the training room. 

Surprised by the force of her friend's parry, Tahiri couldn't lift her blade again in time, and instead disengaged the power before it sliced through the floor. She glanced at the now useless hilt in her hand, then at the point of Anakin's violet-silver blade hovering mere inches from her nose. She narrowed her eyes at Anakin's cocky grin and, as he brought the lightsabre down, she clipped her own to her utility belt and took a step backwards. 

"Nice try, Tahiri," Anakin said, still with the same cocky grin on his face – obviously inherited from his father; why had she never noticed it before? "But never underestimate your opponent." 

"I didn't underestimate you," she shot back, trying to cover for her sudden embarrassment. _Embarrassed? Why am I embarrassed?_ This was _Anakin_, she shouldn't feel embarrassed around him about anything, even messing up in a duel. Right? "I just… thought I had you there." 

Anakin shook his head and wiped a hand across his brow, grimacing at the sweat and grime on his hand; they had obviously been training longer than he'd thought. "Always prepare for the worst eventuality; never think you 'have' your opponent. That's when he turns and slashes at you, when you least expect it." 

"I suppose you know that from personal experience, huh?" There was a note of jealousy, wistfulness, in Tahiri's voice. "When you're out fighting the Vong, one-on-one, protecting the galaxy. Right?" 

Anakin sighed. "Yeah," he said flatly, without elaborating. 

"And I suppose," Tahiri continued in a resigned tone of voice, "you don't want to tell me about it." 

"Not really." 

There was a short pause, and, after a moment, Tahiri sighed exasperatedly. "Anakin you've been here almost a week already and you haven't told me anything about it all. All we do is train, and you teach me to fight, which, OK, I'm grateful for, but you have to _tell_ me stuff as well! Like what's it's like to fight them, and what it felt like, and just… what they're like." 

Anakin sighed again and stepped back, so he was leaning against the cool stone wall. He glanced up, realising with a jolt how low he actually had to look now, and met Tahiri's sparkling green gaze. He frowned slightly. "You really want to know?" 

"Of course I do!" She glared back at him mockingly. "And I won't leave you alone until you tell me." 

"You won't leave me alone anyway," Anakin reminded her. 

"No," she admitted. "But tell me!" 

"It's not _exciting_, Tahiri, it's…" He squeezed his eyes shut as images flashed through his mind; memories of Dantooine, Ithor, Duro; fighting, always fighting, always slashing and blocking and running, warriors everywhere, scars and tattoos, spots of _nothing_ in the Force, and always _fighting_. And yet when he wasn't fighting, it was almost worse – it was debates, arguments, _politics_, and always the price of fighting would weigh down on him. If he'd fought _more_, he could have saved more, he _knew_. Fighting and killing saved people; ironic, but proven and _true_. But the fighting, the Yuuzhan Vong, the fear… _It's all too much, the cost, and is it worth it in the end?_

"It has to be… doesn't it?" Tahiri asked in a whisper. 

Anakin's eyes shot open; he had forgotten where he was, that Tahiri was even there. He swallowed hard and tried to banish the thoughts and memories, tried to concentrate on the present. It was working, or at least he thought it was – he was suddenly finding himself distracted by how much closer Tahiri was now compared to when he'd last looked. The horror in her eyes, too, and the nervous way she chewed her bottom lip. 

"Worth it," she added. "But it's awful…" 

"You saw?" 

She nodded, and tapped a finger against the side of her head. "In here. Or…" She reached up and touched Anakin's forehead, and he swallowed at the familiar – or was it? – closeness. "Maybe in here. It's hard to tell sometimes," she added with an apologetic smile. 

"Yeah. All mixed up," Anakin agreed, his eyes refusing to leave Tahiri's. 

There was a long silence, almost uncomfortable; _strange_, thought Anakin. 

"Is it… really that bad?" Tahiri asked suddenly, her voice so much smaller than normal. 

"Most of the time. It's better in space… in a fighter… but it's war, Tahiri. It's really a war, and we're really fighting for our lives." 

"If it's that bad out there, what are you still doing here then, dummy?" she asked, trying to joke, but her shaking voice hinted at her worry. 

Anakin shrugged. "I guess Kyp feels guilty about the Academy. Stranger things have happened." Only an instant later, he realised what he should have said: _To make sure you stay safe._ That was why he came, after all… But then, wouldn't Tahiri have been indignant if he'd said that? He didn't know. He didn't like not knowing; he'd never had to think and worry about what to say around Tahiri at all before – that is, when he ever got a word in edgeways. 

"Oh," Tahiri replied simply. That, too, was strange. 

Another uncomfortable silence stretched into a few long moments. Anakin tried to think of something to say, since it seemed Tahiri had slipped into a rare silence. Nothing came to mind. "Um," he tried, "maybe we should get back up to the rec room, or something. It must almost…" He trailed off, frowning. 

Tahiri poked him in the shoulder. "What's wrong?" 

"I don't know…" He glanced round the training room, but it was empty apart from him and Tahiri. "Something's… happening…" 

Tahiri closed her eyes and Anakin felt her stretch out with her mind. He did the same, combining his senses with hers, and together they used the Force to try and find out what was going on. 

They could feel the other trainees, some relaxing in their rooms, some pretending to relax in the rec room with the Dozen pilots and Ikrit. Tionne and Kam were in the dining hall, mostly preparing the evening meal with the help of the server droid, partly… being mushy, Anakin realised with disgust, and he heard Tahiri giggle beside him. 

He nudged her mind with his – or was it the other way round? – and stretched further out. They sensed Jaina in the hangar, working on her X-wing, faintly annoyed – and, deep down, amused – at something. Kyp was there too, presumably working on his own X-wing, though he seemed to be mostly annoying Jaina. 

Even further out, there were the many plants and animals of the jungle moon, all hunting, sleeping, living, in a rhythm that would break for no one. And then the comforting life faded as the two young Jedi – but almost one mind – reached out into space. It was harder, fainter, but the Force still existed even in vacuum, and they drew from its power as they continued searching for whatever disturbance there was. 

And then they found it. A few hundred kilometres out from the moon, two of the Dozen pilots – Nym Stanta and Adi Tallen, they thought, though they couldn't be sure – were on patrol. But their minds were tainted with surprise, and a little fear, and as Anakin and Tahiri reached out even further, they felt – _nothing_. 

Tahiri stumbled as Anakin broke their bond suddenly, and he caught her arm even as he leaned back against the wall to steady himself. 

"What – what was that?" Tahiri asked, eyes wide. 

"Yuuzhan Vong," Anakin replied, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "They're here. I think," he added, though he knew with absolute certainty that they were. 

"What do we do now? No one's here to get the students yet." 

Anakin sensed fear in Tahiri, but he couldn't be sure whether it was for herself, or the other trainees. "Come on," he said quickly, turning to leave the room. "We have to tell Kam and Tionne to get the other students ready for… something." 

"How long will it be until someone gets here, then?" Tahiri asked nervously as she ran with Anakin to the turbolift. 

"I don't know. I couldn't… we couldn't sense Karrde out there, but he could just be on the other side of Yavin." 

"What'll _you_ do?" 

Anakin stopped suddenly at that, then shook his head and reached out to hit the turbolift call button. "Fight again, I guess," he answered slowly, as the doors opened and the two of them stepped into the 'lift. 

"In space? With the Dozen?" 

Anakin hesitated. "I… don't know. Yes. This time." 

"And then what?" Tahiri was staring at him, and it made him a little nervous. "Will you just leave again afterwards, off to save the galaxy in the way that only Anakin Solo can?" 

"What are you getting at?" Tahiri's tone not only made him nervous, but slightly defensive. "I have to fight." 

"Why?" 

Anakin couldn't believe it. Why was she questioning him all of a sudden, at a moment like this? "I just have to. For the galaxy." _And for you._

Tahiri frowned slightly, but didn't ask again. 

When the turbolift reached the same level as the rec room, the two of them stepped out into the corridor and listened for a moment. They could hear the noise from just a little way down the corridor; laughing and joking as the youngest Jedi trainees tried to get the pilots to play with them "jus' like unkie Nym", and the older ones talked among themselves. 

Anakin put a hand on Tahiri's arm to stop her from entering the room, and nodded his head down the corridor. "Let's check the comm. room first…" 

Normally, there would be someone on duty in the communications room at all times, but when the regular staff had left the Academy a few weeks earlier, it had been left to whoever had free time to stay in there. At the moment, Anakin could sense the room was empty, so he and Tahiri quickly made their way down the corridor and into it. 

"Someone's trying to get through," Tahiri noted, pointing towards an urgent flashing light on the switchboard. 

Anakin hurried over and flipped the comm, grimacing as Nym's voice came through. 

"Finally, stang, you Jedi ought to man that thing more often. And Lead really shouldn't leave his comm in his room so much." 

Anakin rolled his eyes. Obviously not _too_ urgent, then. Yet. "What's going on out there, Nym? We sensed something…" 

"Spooky Jedi. Actually, this is serious. About twenty minutes ago, a Yuuzhan Vong fleet dropped out of hyperspace, a couple hundred kilometres from the eighth moon." 

The eighth moon… 

"Lyric," Tahiri whispered. 

"She'll be fine," Anakin assured her, turning his attention back to the comm. "Have they engaged you?" 

"I'll avoid the obvious pun and just say no, they don't know we're here. We decided to stay out here and keep watch, but when no one answered their comms at all, we almost thought we'd have to come back and physically tell you." 

"Don't bother with that. Stay out there and keep watching them, and comm us again if they move any closer." 

"Well, they're already moving at a fairly steady rate. As in, they'll reach Yavin 4 in about, oh, two hours?" 

Anakin swore loudly and grimaced again. "OK, we'll sort things here and get out there as soon as possible. If anything changes, contact either Kyp's comm or mine; I'll get his to him now. Don't engage them if they get closer, just try to avoid them until we get out there. And keep a look out for Talon Karrde's ship." 

"Three unidentified corvettes, and a larger ship identifying as _Wild Karrde_?" 

Anakin blinked and vaguely heard Tahiri stifle a quick giggle. "That could be him. He's here?" 

There was a pause. "About ninety degrees round Yavin from the fourth moon. From what I can tell, he's using the gravity well of the planet to pick up speed… I don't know if they've seen the Vong yet. We didn't know whether to try hailing them or not; we only just confirmed the big ship's identity." 

Anakin nodded. "Hail him, explain, and tell him to hurry. How long-?" 

"About four hours," Nym answered before Anakin finished asking. 

"Sithspit. Tell him to hurry," he repeated. "Remember, stay out of the way of the Yuuzhan Vong, and comm if anything happens. Tell Karrde to comm, give him Kyp's frequency." 

If Nym was indignant, or even amused, at being given orders by the young Jedi, he didn't show it. "Understood. And tell Kyp that's three drinks, now." 

Anakin shrugged and replied, "Uh, sure. Solo out." He flipped the switch to close the channel, and turned to face Tahiri once again. "OK. You go tell Kam and Tionne what's going on; I'll go get Kyp and Jaina-" 

"Why do we have to split up?" 

"Have to move fast. Two hours, Tahiri, is not a long time." Checking over the comm board one last time, Anakin stepped out of the room, Tahiri close on his heels. "Try to avoid alerting the other trainees though…" 

"If only because Valin'll want to try and 'help' with everything." She grinned. "I'll get Masters Kam and Tionne, then, and meet you back in the hangar. Later, hero boy." 

As he watched Tahiri hurry down the corridor and turn left towards the dining hall, Anakin half-smiled. He wasn't really sure why, but despite the imminent attack, he felt… happy. He shrugged. _I guess Tahiri's cheerfulness can be infectious sometimes._

As he ran to the turbolift and called it – to first head up and get Kyp's comm from his room, then down to the hangar – he tried to figure out what it was that had changed lately. Something obviously had. But he couldn't pinpoint it and so, eventually, he let it slide to the back of his mind; a topic for a moment when danger wasn't imminent. 

_OK,_ he corrected himself with a resigned sigh, _for when it's not as imminent as right now._

Which, he realised in the same moment, was still going to be a long time away. 

----- 

He didn't even have to say anything; his mere _presence_ was enough to irritate her. And yet, Jaina admitted to herself, knowing that Kyp was just a few metres away was... not _comforting_, but perhaps... _distracting_, and not in an entirely unpleasant way. 

She was lying across the back of her X-wing's cockpit, reaching into an open panel to repair systems that didn't need repaired. Tinkering, really. She had come up to the hangar an hour or so earlier, to get away from the noise of the rec room. And, she had told herself at the time, to get away from Kyp, though she had known full well he would join her - under the pretence of repairing his own fighter, of course. All he'd done, however, was gotten into a loud argument with his astromech droid, and stared at her while pretending to reprogram modules in his X-wing. 

Jaina felt Kyp's eyes on her once again, and sighed. She knew what he was about to ask. He'd asked the same question at least twice a day since they arrived on Yavin 4. _Stop staring at me, Kyp,_ she thought to herself. _I'm not going to tell you if I've decided yet._

And, predictably, he started: "So, have you-?" 

"Don't even bother, Kyp," Jaina cut him off, not looking up. 

A second of silence passed, and Jaina couldn't resist lifting her head and stealing a glance at Kyp. He was still looking at her, a smirk on his face, safe from harm in his X-wing's cockpit. 

She turned back to her own X-wing, fixing her gaze on the open - but perfectly working - panel and systems before her, and went over the question in her head again, the same one he'd asked so often in the past week. _Have you decided yet?_

Had she decided whether to join the Dozen or not yet? Yes, she had decided - had done so the day before, in fact. Anakin's input had been worthless - he didn't _know_ what he was going to do, he'd told her. And so she'd had to think about it herself; weigh the advantages, disadvantages, and consider exactly what becoming Dozen Two would mean. 

It would mean no more Rogue Squadron, which had been the hardest thing to realise. But then, if Kyp - for she suspected Anakin's words the week before had actually been Kyp's - was right, her career as a Rogue was effectively over, for now. That was hard to believe - surely Gavin wouldn't let something as absurd as anti-Jedi sentiment sway his judgment? But it was far too possible, given the current state of affairs in the galaxy. 

She didn't know what, exactly, her parents' reactions would be, nor those of her aunt and uncle, but she doubted they would be positive. So it would mean making people angry, or disappointed, or just plain _confused_. Surely that wasn't what mattered, though? She was an adult now; she was free to make her own decisions without having to consider their opinions. Or, to consider them, but ultimately disregard them... 

And it would also - maybe - mean finding out just what that annoying feeling in her stomach was. It had surfaced again at Kyp's smirk a moment earlier, increasing her irritation with him. She was starting to doubt that it was anything to do with disgust, considering how often she had felt it during the week. It would twist in her stomach every time he asked her about her decision; every time he smiled, which she suspected was more often lately than usual; even at his typical, amused, _arrogant_ smirk. She almost thought it would be worth joining the Dozen purely to find out what the strange feeling meant, even it it turned out to be nothing. 

She had to know. She had to fly, she had to fight, but most of all, she had to _know_. That, she knew, was the main reason she had decided to take up Kyp's offer and become Dozen Two. 

Another moment passed as Jaina stared at the tools in her hand, deep in contemplation. With a sigh, she shook her head and looked up at Kyp again. He was studying a screen in his cockpit, frowning, and Jaina found she had to look away in order to remember what she was going to say. "Tell me again," she said when she remembered, "why it has to be _me_ who joins you." 

Kyp looked up at her, and for a moment Jaina froze, suddenly self-conscious under his dark green gaze. Then he rolled his eyes, replying with his usual response as if he was getting tired of repeating it: "Because you're a great pilot and you'd do better with- in my squadron, than in that wretched Rogue Squadron." 

He had almost said _with me_, Jaina knew, and she wondered why he'd stopped. "That may or may not be true," she mused out loud, unsure whether it was or not. She grinned inwardly as she added, "But do you really want someone better than you in your squadron?" 

"I..." Jaina could see that Kyp was stunned at this new response, and it pleased her for some reason. "Well, that's something I'd have to consider," he said eventually, still frowning in confusion. 

"Do," Jaina replied lightly, grinning to herself as she turned once again to her repairs. 

After a second, Kyp spoke up again. "Does that mean you've decided then?" 

Jaina grinned again, not looking up this time. "Maybe," she replied nonchalantly. "But even if I have, I'm not telling you just yet." 

"Fine," he said in the same impassive tone - obviously fake. "It's not like I'm desperate to know. Couldn't care less." 

Jaina's grin turned into an unsure half-smile as she looked up at him. Her brain knew he was lying, but the feeling in her stomach made her doubt her certainty, and for some reason, it made her feel _disappointed_. "Uh huh," she said carefully, trying to force nonchalance into her voice. "That's why you've asked me every day since we came here. Because you don't care." 

"Nope," Kyp replied, that same smirk on his face. "Not at-" 

"Jaina! Kyp!" 

Jaina sighed as her brother's voice interrupted Kyp, and looked up as he ran into the hangar. She saw, out of the corner of her eye, Kyp almost topple over the edge of his cockpit. She hid a grin as he righted himself and, as if he had intended to do so all along, transformed his fall into a graceful jump down to the stone floor. 

Closing the panel she had been working on, Jaina jumped down from her own fighter as Anakin skidded to a halt beside it. She took a moment to study her brother, noting his light brown hair even more dishevelled than usual, light jumpsuit rumpled and probably sweaty, and his ice-blue eyes fierce and determined. "What is it, Anakin?" 

"The Vong are here." 

Jaina's stomach twisted in a very different way to the twist caused by Kyp's smile, and she had to take a step back to lean against her X-wing. She blinked, and then focused on Kyp as he stepped towards them, with a strange expression... Jaina would have said he seemed _uncertain_, but that was foolish, for this was Kyp Durron - even when he was wrong, he was certain about it. 

"Are you sure," he asked. "How far away are they?" 

"Absolutely, and less than two hours, says Nym." Turning to Kyp, he unclipped something from his belt and tossed it at him. "And he says that's three drinks now." 

Jaina saw a quick grin on Kyp's face, before he turned vaguely serious again. "Then we need to get a move on. Do Kam and Tionne-?" 

"Tahiri's gone to tell them," Anakin answered before Kyp finished. "But we'll need to do something... keep the Vong away until Karrde lands." 

"Karrde's here?" Jaina asked, surprised. 

Anakin nodded. "Almost four hours out, though." 

Jaina thought about it for a moment, then grinned to herself. "You'll find out in four hours then," she told Kyp. 

"Ah, you have to tell me before we get out there, surely?" 

_Yes,_ she thought to herself, and she knew she would. But first, she would play along... put the severity of the approaching battle off for as long as possible. "Nope, not a chance. You'll just have to be patient." 

Kyp scowled, and Jaina stuck her tongue out at him, barely noticing Anakin as he rolled his eyes. "Jaina, Kyp, I don't know what you're talking about, but stop-" 

Jaina had hardly registered the addition of Tahiri and Kam to the room before the young Jedi had tackled her best friend, neatly avoiding Kyp as he stepped aside to let her pass. Jaina couldn't help but laugh as Anakin stumbled backwards, more than a little unsure of how to handle someone so firmly attached to him. 

"Uh, Tahiri..." 

"You're going now, aren't you? And you'll fight and go away and I _know_ I won't see you again for so long, no matter what you say, and you _can't_ do that, Anakin! 

"I'm not- I'll be back, I'll come back and see you again, I promise," Anakin told her firmly. 

"I don't know..." Tahiri pulled away a little, looking up at Anakin, a slightly disapproving look on her face. "What if you don't? I'm going to come and fight with you." 

Kyp coughed, and Jaina grinned as Tahiri whirled round and glared at him. "Tahiri, that's a nice thought, but-" 

"Don't you dare say I'm too young, Durron-" 

"_Master_ Durron," Kam corrected her, as much as Jaina knew it pained him. 

"-because I'm not, Anakin wasn't much older than me at Sernpidal, and-" 

"No, no, I wouldn't _dare_ say you were too young, Tahiri," Kyp assured her quickly, a bemused expression on his face. "Just that we don't have a spare X-wing for you, and while I'm _sure_ you would be a great help, it wouldn't be much good if you're crammed in with Anakin, would it?" 

Tahiri continued to glare at him for a few moments longer, and then let out an exasperated sigh. "Well, that's just stupid, not having a spare fighter..." 

Jaina's efforts not to laugh out loud were wasted when she caught Kyp's eye, and she found herself the victim of Tahiri's glare. She tried to disguise her amusement as a coughing fit, and though she was sure Tahiri hadn't fallen for it, the girl turned back to Anakin anyway. 

"Tahiri, you need to stay here anyway," Anakin said quietly, holding up a hand to stop her answering back. "You have to help lead the kids to safety, in Ikrit's cave, right? You two are the only ones who know where it is." 

Tahiri frowned a little, softening her glare. "I guess, but... I _can_ fight-" 

"I know, Tahiri," Anakin assured her. "But just because you _can_ do something, doesn't always mean you _should_." 

Jaina regarded her brother cynically. Did he realise how much he sounded like Jacen just then? Probably not... She supposed that even Anakin could allow for Jacen's philosophies, when it was someone he really cared about... Strange. 

Before Tahiri could reply, Kyp's comm beeped loudly at him, and he unclipped it from his belt to answer it. "Durron here." 

"Lead, finally. OK, hold the expensive Corellian ale for now, and tell those lazy pilots of yours to get a move on. Our original estimate for an attack was a little... optimistic." 

"Right... what's your revised estimate, then?" 

"Well, my sensors have taken a little... _turbulence_, but Adi reckons maybe... half an hour now." 

Jaina bit at her bottom lip and glanced at Anakin, frowning at his shrug. Half an hour... 

Even so, Kyp was smirking at something. "You're in vacuum, Nym. I take it that's code for, 'I didn't hide where Adi told me and got hit by a skip'." 

"Peace Brigade corvette, actually," Adi's voice interjected, and despite the implications of that, Jaina saw Kyp grin even wider. Obviously there was some inside joke with Nym and Adi... 

Nym made a non-committal sort of noise before answering, "Just hurry up, will you? The Vong are stationary just now, but the Brigade have gate crashed the party and... just hurry up. Three out." 

Kyp stared at his comm for a moment, and Jaina could sense a whirlwind of thoughts going on in his head, all at once. "Right then," he said decisively, "we need... Tahiri, can you run down and get my pilots from the rec room?" 

Tahiri narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "This is a ploy to get rid of me, isn't it?" 

Jaina grinned again at Kyp's discomfort - he was obviously out of practice for dealing with smart kids. "No, I kind of need a full squadron to go out and fight, so it would help if they were here." 

"Hmph." Tahiri took a step towards the exit, then turned and glared at the group. "But I'm coming back up!" 

Jaina, still grinning, waved as Tahiri left. 

Anakin ran a hand through his hair, trying futilely to make it a little neater, and spoke up, looking at Kam. "If they're that near, then you won't have much time before there are Peace Brigade ships landing. I'll stay behind in the temple and distract them-" 

"No way," Jaina said firmly, instantly forgetting her amusement. 

"Nuh uh," Kyp agreed. "Can't let you do that. Besides, I'll need you up there with the Dozen-" 

"Where it's _much_ safer," Anakin noted sarcastically. "I have to stay, give them time to get to safety..." 

"Anakin, thank you," Kam said before Kyp or Jaina could reply, "but that won't be necessary. We'll make it." 

Jaina saw her brother frown, and felt something rather dangerous from him through the Force, but he didn't say anything. She glanced at Kam. "You better get a move on then," she suggested. "Is Tionne-?" 

"She's getting the kids ready. I better go warn her... send Tahiri-" 

But Kam's words were interrupted by something that sounded very much like a herd of stampeding banthas, and Jaina stared in bemusement as eight very confused pilots entered the hangar, followed by an exasperated-looking Tahiri. "Got them," she said, rolling her eyes and indicating the pilots. "Now what?" 

"Now," Kam started firmly, "we go join Tionne, Ikrit and the others, and get out of here." 

"But-" 

"Go on, Tahiri," Anakin told her. "I'll make sure and see you when this is over." 

Tahiri hesitated, and Jaina could sense _something_ between the two, a silent conversation. Then she nodded. "But don't leave it so long, OK, hero boy?" 

Anakin half-smiled. "Promise." 

Jaina watched as Kam and Tahiri left the hangar, and glanced back at her brother, smiling as he continued to watch the exit, long after the two were out of sight. "All right, little brother?" 

"Hm?" Anakin blinked. "Oh, yeah." 

"OK, Dozen," Kyp said suddenly, turning to look at the gathered pilots. "You know the drill. Keep the Peace Brigade and Vong from landing until Karrde can get the kids out. I'd talk more-" 

"Don't we know it," one of the pilots - Dayvie - muttered, and a few of the others laughed nervously. 

Kyp grinned. "Exactly. But there's no time now. So hurry and get out there." 

The pilots all answered vaguely and ran off towards their own fighters. Jaina watched as Kyp approached his own fighter, hesitated, and turned to face her. "I know you said- but-" 

Jaina half-smiled and nodded. "You've got yourself a full squadron, Lead." 

Kyp looked shocked for a moment, and Jaina knew he had expected her to say no. But then he grinned, and returned the nod. "Excellent. Come on then, Two." 

Jaina felt Anakin's shock through the Force, and his accusatory glare. "Two? Does that- you haven't- _joined_-?" 

"And you, Thirteen," Kyp continued in the same cheerful tone, turning to climb up into his fighter. 

"You know some cultures consider thirteen to be unlucky, right?" Jaina heard Anakin call as she climbed into her own X-wing. 

"Sure," Kyp called back, not noticing that Anakin was still on the floor, not moving towards his own fighter. "But Solo blood counters all superstitions, doesn't it?" 

Jaina rolled her eyes, running over her pre-flight checks. She felt a little thrill as she reported in as Dozen Two, anticipation of _something_, and was relieved when she heard Anakin report in, too. Apparently, he had made it to his own fighter after all. 

But when the Dozen lifted off, out of the temple hangar and towards the enemy awaiting them in space, what Jaina _didn't_ realise was that Anakin hadn't reported in from his fighter at all - he had done so from his personal comm, set to the same frequency. 

He was, in fact, still in the temple, and determined to keep his friends safe - to keep _Tahiri_ safe - for as long as it took 

-- 


	6. not too late for the party

--Hey look, it's a space battle. Ain't that nifty? Short post.   
--I'm still searching on eBay 

---------- 

"Glad you could make it, guys," Nym called over the comm rather sarcastically. "Not too late for the party, either." 

Jaina rolled her eyes, already rethinking her decision to become part of this squadron. She wasn't sure she could put up with Nym for too long. 

"Fill us in then, Three," Kyp replied. 

Jaina pulled her fighter in line with Kyp's as Nym's voice drifted over the comm again. "OK, well, the Vong seem to be sticking in formation by the sixth moon just now, but we've had a couple of gatecrashers. As you can see, there are ten more ships in system; Peace Brigade." 

"Who have just spotted us, apparently," Kyp noted, and Jaina grimaced as she glanced at her scanner. 

Further out, on the other side of Yavin 4 from the Yuuzhan Vong, were ten assorted ships in various states of repair. Unlike the ones from the week before, most of these were medium and larger size ships, with the smallest being a lightweight freighter about five times the size of Jaina's X-wing. Though none of the ships were in brilliant condition, they would undoubtedly be harder – and take longer – to get rid of than the fighters from last time. Unfortunately, some of the ships were already in the atmosphere of the jungle moon, and it was clear that they would land before the Dozen could take care of them. 

"So what do we take care of first, Lead?" Adi's calm voice asked over the comm. 

Jaina could just about sense Kyp's thoughts, even through his shields, all muddled as he tried to work out what to do. "Right," he started, "we need to take care of those Peace Brigaders first… We can't let them all land, otherwise the kids don't stand a chance." 

"Two have already landed, though," Dozen Five, Dayvie, pointed out. 

"Then we take care of the rest," Kyp told him, a confident edge forced into his voice. "Get to it, Dozen. Anakin, you're with Jaina and me." 

Jaina reached out with the Force for her brother, ready to work together like they had before, but realised with a jolt that she couldn't sense him where he should be. She tried to reach out further, but all she could sense was Kyp, the other pilots, and the weak minds of the Peace Brigaders further out. Warily, she extended her senses to the surface of the moon that filled her viewports, and closed her eyes in exasperation when she found him – still in the temple. 

"I can't see Anakin's fighter on my display," Kyp's voice said in Jaina's ear as it came over a private comm link. "Can you sense him?" 

"He's still on the moon," Jaina told him quietly. "He didn't come with us." 

Kyp swore loudly. "Is he always so vaping determined like that?" 

Jaina stared at Kyp's X-wing in disbelief, then laughed. "You're one to talk, aren't you?" 

"OK, so-" Kyp's voice cut off as he swerved suddenly to avoid a shot from one of the Peace Brigade ships, and Jaina juked to the other side to avoid another. "So maybe that's a little hypocritical of me," Kyp continued as he fired his own round of laser bolts at the smallest of the corvettes. "But it's still annoying of him." 

"Agreed," Jaina replied, adding her own fire to Kyp's and smiling grimly when a lucky shot hit the fuel tank, blowing the corvette's hull apart. "But he can't be down there himself. He's hardly got the best track record for getting out of trouble easily. I'll go back-" 

"No," Kyp cut in quickly. 

Jaina glared out at his X-wing for a moment before having to turn sharply to avoid another ship's lasers. "Why not?" 

"Well, because…" Kyp seemed to be at a loss for words, and Jaina felt another flare of annoyance. "Because you can't just now anyway, in the middle of all this." 

That made sense, she had to admit. No point trying to re-enter the atmosphere and land, while several enemy ships were doing the same, and even more were covering them. Best wait until they were all either occupied, or destroyed. "All right," she conceded reluctantly. "When we're finished with the Peace Brigade, then." 

"Yes… Which we better get a move on with, before they all realise it makes sense to land rather than hang about in space." 

Jaina nodded to herself and fell in line with Kyp's fighter again. A second of silent nothingness passed, and then her brow creased in confusion and surprise as she felt Kyp reach out to her through the Force. Nevertheless, she reached back, and sensed something like a grin from him. 

_Want to try something,_ he told her. _Did this with Miko once, but he wasn't very good at it._

As the connection strengthened between them, Jaina realised she could sense Kyp's thoughts and decisions fairly clearly. He turned his attention onto one of the enemy ships, and she knew almost before he did that this was their next target. Flying was left to the back of her mind as she concentrated on the bond and the target she sensed through it, but she still evaded the ship's lasers smoothly and easily. In the same instant as Kyp, she fired her own lasers, and the two X-wings' fire combined to overwhelm the freighter's shields, scoring a direct hit on the hull. The dirty-white surface was scorched black, but not quite breached. 

It was like the asteroid field at Dubrillion, linked to her brothers and fighting the Yuuzhan Vong for the first time. But somehow, the bond was even stronger than hers and Anakin's; almost equal to the one she had with her twin. It was comfortable and easy, but it almost scared her _how_ comfortable it was. 

Before she could even register it, the enemy freighter had been destroyed by the two X-wings' lasers and a torpedo from Nym, and Kyp was looping round to target the next ship. Jaina brought her own fighter round in the same direction, once again sensing the target through this new, but strangely familiar, bond. 

On her HUD, Jaina could see that two of the Peace Brigade ships had already escaped unharmed and landed on the surface of the moon, probably near the temple. She vaguely sensed Anakin as he worked to distract the ships and defend the Academy, but most of her attention was taken up by the space battle. 

Target after target was designated through the Force, and Jaina hit them all in a synchronised rhythm with Kyp, barely registering the minimal effort required. Together, they managed to shoot down four of the original ten ships, while the rest of the Dozen took care of three more between them. Three freighters in all managed to get past and land on the surface of the moon, all of which seemed to be in the area of the Academy. Jaina tried to reach out and check to see if Kam, Tionne and the students were safe, but after a moment she realised that would involve breaking the bond between her and Kyp, and she wasn't sure she wanted to do that just yet. 

_All finished, Sticks._

_I know… But the Yuuzhan Vong will be here soon._

Jaina felt a grim determination, and it took a second to realise it was Kyp's feeling, not her own. Another second passed, and then he slowly, carefully retreated from the bond, leaving Jaina confused for some reason, and almost disappointed. 

"I'm going back to the surface," he said decisively over the private comm link. 

"What? No way!" Jaina was suddenly annoyed again, and the familiar reaction to Kyp was reassuring, after the almost disturbing comfort of their bond. "I'm going back, since it's my brother. I have to look after him." 

Instead of arguing with her, Kyp simply asked, "And what experience do you have fighting the Vong on the ground?" 

"Huh?" Jaina was suddenly confused. 

"Fighting. On the ground. Not in space." 

"Uh…" And with a jolt, Jaina realised that no, she didn't have much experience against the Yuuzhan Vong outside of her fighter. In every conflict with the warriors so far, she had been in the familiar setting of her X-wing, out in the cold black of space. "Well, almost a little, on Duro…" 

"None," Kyp answered his own question firmly. "You're better out here in space. I've fought the Vong before on the ground; you haven't. I'll go down to the moon and get Anakin; you stay with the Dozen." 

Jaina frowned and glanced out of the X-wing's canopy towards the sixth moon, where she could just about see the organic ships of the enemy clustered. "The Yuuzhan Vong aren't even on Yavin 4 yet-" 

"But they will be. Hopefully not until after Anakin and I get back out, but the chances of that are fairly remote." 

"But-" 

Kyp sighed. "We can't both go down, Jaina, but one of us has to, because neither of us want to leave Anakin alone down there with the Peace Brigade and the Vong, right? So I'll go down, hopefully getting out again quickly, and you get out of here with the Dozen, and go and update Master Skywalker on what's happening. Besides," he added, "Karrde's in system and so long as the Vong don't move much closer just yet, he'll land before them." 

Again, Jaina had to admit – however reluctantly – that Kyp made sense. Whatever they decided to do, though, they had to do it quickly; the Yuuzhan Vong already seemed to be sending scouts out from their temporary base of the orbit around the sixth moon. "OK. I guess. But you better not get yourself killed. I mean, when you're supposed to be looking after my brother," she added quickly. 

"No worries, Jay. You know by now I'm impossible to get rid of, don't you?" 

Didn't she just… "Whatever, Durron. Hurry up, then." 

Kyp didn't reply again, though Jaina was sure he would be smirking, and she rolled her eyes. 

After another few seconds passed as the Dozen all drifted into position around the two of them – miraculously, this time the squadron had all survived, though Nym's fighter had taken some more heavy damage. Jaina's comm unit crackled with static for a moment as Kyp switched to squadron frequency, then his voice came over the comm. 

"OK, Dozen, not a bad job. I have some other urgent business to take care of back on the moon, and it won't be long before the Vong arrive in the vicinity so, lucky for you, Sticks will be in charge for the time being." 

"Joy," Nym called sarcastically, drawing laughter from everyone except Kyp, Jaina and Adi. 

"Sticks is a better pilot than you, _Three_," Adi reprimanded him. 

"Hmph. Sorry, _Four_." 

"Apology accepted," Adi replied lightly. 

"Yeah, yeah, cut the flirting, guys," Kyp interrupted, and Nym coughed indignantly. "Try and be semi-serious for once. I'm giving you a job to do here – get back to Coruscant, report to Skywalker that the kids _should_ be safe, and try not to kill each other before I get back." 

"Why? Where will you be?" Davie sounded puzzled. 

"Told you, back down there on Yavin 4. Won't be long," Kyp added confidently. "Look after 'em, Sticks. You've had enough experience dealing with unruly kids, right? No, wait… you _are_ one… Forget I said anything. Lead out." 

With that, Kyp turned his fighter round so he was facing the jungle moon, and Jaina saw him accelerate towards it. He had switched off his comm, but as he approached the atmosphere, Jaina sent him a feeling of hope through the Force, and the simple message, _good luck._

When she could barely see his X-wing against the greens and blues of the jungle, Jaina turned her attention back to her HUD. She realised with a grimace that the Yuuzhan Vong were even closer now, and if they didn't move soon, it would be too late to move at all. Nym hadn't even ventured a guess at the number of ships earlier, but it was certainly larger than any of them could have guessed. Even _they_ wouldn't stand a chance against such a large fleet, she was sure. 

"So," Nym started conversationally, "did he insult all of us, or just Sticks?" 

"All of us," Dayvie answered decisively. "It was more sort of… _friendly_ at Sticks, though." 

"Like Nym and Adi," Dozen Seven – Jak – called out, to laughter from about half the squadron. 

"Gods, no," Dayvie replied. "They have to be more successful than those two, surely." 

Jaina flushed when she realised what Dayvie meant, and was glad no one could see her in her X-wing. "All right, Dozen," she cut in, deciding to ignore the chatter. She was vaguely surprised at how easy it actually seemed to be to take command of the squadron. "We need to move fast, so set yourselves a course for Coruscant and let's blast our way out of this party and report home." 

"Then we come back and rescue Lead, right?" Nym's voice asked, a determined edge to it. 

Jaina smiled wryly. "Then we come back and rescue Lead," she agreed. "But he can last a couple days without us." 

"Only a couple," Nym muttered, and Jaina was inclined to agree yet again. 

"All right…" She glanced back at the fourth moon, sighed, and turned to her controls once again. "Jumps laid in, and go in three, two, one…" 

As the stars and ships of the surrounding space streaked into white lines, and Jaina leaned back in the cockpit, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd done the right thing. It had made a sort of sense, the decisions, but… did the right thing always make sense? It never had before, had it? Should she have stayed, gone down the surface with Kyp to get Anakin? Yes, part of her felt she should have… but then, the common sense part of her – small as it was – told her that she would have just gotten in the way, that she was better out here in command of the Dozen, and that at least it meant she could return to help in a couple days, with more support. 

She hoped Kyp could keep Anakin alive that long – and himself, too. Because she knew, suddenly, that if he couldn't, she'd kill him all over again. 

-- 


	7. ghosts of mist and madness

--Action, and some nummy Anakin's POV. Not had that in a while, eh? Much of this post is, erm, paraphrased from the awesomeness that is Greg Keyes' writing. Read Conquest and Rebirth or die, f00ls (kinda essential for understanding this story, too)   
--CDs are so much more affordable than Star Wars characters 

---------- 

Cursing the Peace Brigade for the fifth time in as many minutes, Anakin tried to tell himself that at least the Yuuzhan Vong hadn't landed first. They were still farther out in the system – that was where the big patch of _nothing_ was, anyway. No, there were just Peace Brigade fighters to deal with at the moment. _Scum,_ thought Anakin bitterly, the conversation – if it could be called that – he had just had with the leader fresh in his mind. 

He let off another blaster bolt at the group of men huddled around three freighters in the landing pad, missing his target but scoring a hit on the hull of the largest ship; it left a black scorch mark, but no real damage. _Concentrate, Anakin,_ he told himself. _You need to get them all. All of them, otherwise Tahiri and the others won't be safe._ Not that they would be safe anyway, unless Talon Karrde hurried the Sith up and got to Yavin 4. 

Some of the Peace Brigaders had finally managed to locate their blasters – Anakin hoped none of them had been in the New Republic military, with those reaction speeds – and were returning fire. The bolts burned into the stone of the temple, unaffected by the weak particle shield that Anakin had set up earlier. Most of the fire was concentrated around Anakin's narrow window, but occasionally, shots were fired at the levels above and below him. The shots weren't wild; the Brigaders were obviously aiming at _something_. 

"What are they shooting at up there?" Anakin asked Ikrit, taking a chance to lean against the window briefly and study the scene below. Still the Peace Brigade were remaining in the landing pad and concentrating on the temple, which was a good sign. It meant they still thought everyone was inside. 

"Ghosts of mist and madness," Ikrit answered slowly, his eyes still closed. 

"Don't they notice that no one's shooting back at them?" 

"Not yet. They believe they see bolts of energy weapons, shadows of targets." 

Anakin nodded thoughtfully. "How long can you keep that up?" 

"Longer if the occasional bolt is real." 

"Got you," Anakin replied, and leaned out to fire a bolt at one of the Peace Brigaders, knocking the man's blaster out of his hand. He had to pull himself back in quickly to avoid falling out, however, when he glimpsed something moving in the sky. Not another Peace Brigade ship, which he had been dreading since the arrival of the third, but the familiar outline of an X-wing, drawing closer to the temple. 

A brief flash of relief coursed through Anakin. It was help. Then it was immediately replaced with anger – didn't they trust him to do this on his own, and make it back safely? He reached out through the Force, and swore under his breath when he found that it wasn't his sister, whose help he might have accepted, but Kyp Durron. He didn't need Kyp's help with this; in fact, he was starting to regret having asked for it in the first place. 

Ikrit, noticing the fighter and Anakin's resentment, spoke up, his scratchy voice interrupting Anakin's thoughts. "He may be of some use, Anakin." 

Anakin looked over at the Jedi Master, who still had his eyes closed, concentrating on the illusion he was creating in the minds of the Peace Brigade. "How?" Anakin asked. "How can he help—" 

He stopped suddenly in shock as an energy bolt _pinged!_ past him, angled down, mere inches from the window – and Anakin's blaster. The scarlet bolt hit its target, drawing a cry of pain from the same man Anakin had shot at moments earlier. 

"But that—" Anakin leaned out again, turning his head to look up and behind him. "But that came from above! In the _temple!_" 

"Of course," Ikrit said simply, earning himself a disbelieving look from Anakin. "You knew she would return, did you not?" 

"Who-?" Anakin started to ask, then stopped as he realised what Ikrit meant. He reached out to confirm his suspicions, and yes – Tahiri was above them; Tahiri, and two of the other trainees. 

"Great," Anakin muttered sarcastically, withdrawing back into the safety of the control room, away from the window. "Time for a few plan revisions, then." 

"Do not underestimate the aid of those who seek to help you, Anakin," Ikrit called to him, not moving from his spot near the ledge. 

"Hm. I better not _over_estimate their usefulness in getting off this rock now, either." Anakin holstered his blaster and unclipped his lightsabre, holding it for a moment before returning it to his belt. "Meet us in the grotto, Master Ikrit, when you're done here." 

"Of course. May the Force be with you." 

"And you," Anakin called back, running from the room and down the corridor to the turbolift, his sense of dread growing with every step. 

----- 

Anakin's mood was not lightened when he reached the refectory and saw the three young Jedi there – Tahiri, Valin and Sannah. Tahiri and Valin held blasters – where they had found them, Anakin didn't want to know – and crouched to either side of the window directly above the one Anakin had used. Sannah sat beside Valin, a discharged power pack in her hand. 

Tahiri looked up and grinned, waving her blaster at him. "We got two-!" 

"What are you _doing_?" Anakin exploded. 

"We're helping you, dummy!" 

"But how did you—" 

"Kam thought we were on Tionne's boat, and Tionne thought we were on Kam's." Tahiri was still grinning. "Simple enough, with a little planning." 

Anakin shook his head in disbelief – he had already known that, of course. Hadn't he and Tahiri tricked Kam and Tionne often enough in the past? "But what about Valin? He's only eleven!" 

"Twelve!" Valin corrected him, very seriously. "I can help." 

"We had to come and help," Tahiri continued, her grin fading. "We couldn't leave you on your own." 

"Doesn't _anyone_ think I can handle this alone?" Anakin glared at his friend. "And how do you think you're going to get _back_? All we have is an X-wing." He scowled as he remembered who would soon be joining them. "Two X-wings." 

"I… oh." Tahiri's tone was flat as she realised her error. "I guess I didn't think that far." 

"No, guess you didn't." Anakin bit his lip in frustration and tried to _think._ How were they going to get out of this one? The shield would only hold a few more moments, and then— 

The floor suddenly vibrated beneath his feet, a faint rumble through his body. 

"What's that?" Sannah asked nervously. 

Valin leaned up and glanced out the window. "The shield's down," he answered, watching the scene outside. "They're shooting at the doors. Some people coming up the stairs, now." 

Anakin swore and thought quickly. "No time… We'll have to think as we go." He spun round to face the room's exit and corridor beyond, wondering just how far into the temple the Peace Brigaders that Valin had seen were. "I told Master Ikrit to meet us in the grotto." 

"We'll be stuck underground," Valin pointed out, obviously unsure as to whether Anakin had realised this or not. 

"Yeah, well next time, you work out the half-second plan." Anakin sighed and rubbed at the back of his head. "We won't be for long." 

"So there's more to this plan than hiding in the grotto?" Tahiri asked him. 

Anakin hesitated a moment, going over his new idea in his head quickly, then nodded. "Sure. We'll take a Peace Brigade ship." 

Tahiri grinned again. "See? Not that hard." 

He didn't reply; simply led them in a run down the corridor to the turbolift. Just as the doors closed, he caught a glimpse of black at the end of the corridor, by the outside stairs, and a blaster bolt pinged against the lift. The lift started to descend, but Anakin's relief was short-lived – it would stop at the next level. He _knew_ this, with the same certainty that his affinity with mechanics and circuitry always provided. "How many Peace Brigaders were in the corridor?" he asked to anyone who could answer him, too busy trying to work everything out to sense it himself. 

"One," Valin answered instantly. "Moving down to the second floor now." 

"Sithspit, they're all going to be there… OK. The lift's going to stop on the second floor-" 

"Can't you override it?" Sannah asked him. 

"With some wire cutters, access to the circuitry and five minutes, I could control the whole system in this temple. We have lightsabres and about ten seconds." Anakin ignited his own lightsabre, his left hand hovering by the lift controls. "The door will stay open for three… four seconds. If they're out there…" 

"They are," Valin confirmed quietly. 

Anakin didn't have time to answer, or even wonder how Valin was so sure – the lift door was open, several blaster muzzles mere centimetres from him. He slapped the 'down' button and leaped out into the midst of his enemies, his violet blade slicing through one of the blasters. Bolts sizzled against his lightsabre as he deflected them into the ground, the ceiling, back into the crowd of Peace Brigaders. _Two seconds…_

Those with blasters – that were still in one piece – backed up a few steps, frantically trying to get to a range they could use their weapons from. Two others rushed him, stun batons in hand, obviously hoping to catch him by surprise. As Anakin jumped clear of the floor and disarmed them – dis_handed_ in the case of one attacker – he thought about chastising them for even _thinking_ they could surprise a Jedi. But his words were lost in his throat a second later; he had to leap again to avoid another blow – and landed to find himself facing another blade, this one a brilliant blue, wielded by a grinning Tahiri. 

The lift was gone, Valin and Sannah with it. _Get to the grotto,_ Anakin sent after them, certain that Valin would get the gist, if not the exact meaning, of his words. He swallowed and tore his gaze from Tahiri's, spinning round once again to face the Peace Brigaders. 

They had backed off a further two metres, regrouping and, presumably, re-equipping themselves. Anakin counted them quickly – there were five, plus one who didn't look as if he would be confronting Anakin again any time soon; he was taking the loss of his hand quite hard – and brought his lightsabre up in a guard position. "You don't have a chance," he told them, sensing Tahiri move to his side. "I've been trying not to hurt you. That ends with the next person who fires a weapon at me." 

The woman in front – obviously this group's leader – spoke up. "They can't get all of us," she assured the others. 

"Of course we can," Anakin said, sensing rather than seeing Tahiri's nod. 

The woman smirked. "All of us?" 

Noise behind her signified reinforcements, and Anakin swore. He hit her with a telekinetic blast, pushing her hard into the people behind her, and most of them crashed to the floor. One man, at the rear of the group, took a step back before those in front of him hit him – and stumbled right into Kyp Durron, who spun him round and punched him hard enough to knock him out. 

"How you doing, kid?" he called nonchalantly, brushing his hands on his flightsuit. 

Anakin glanced at Tahiri, who had shut off her lightsabre and was clipping it back on her belt. "Little better now." He didn't add, 'thanks.' 

Kyp nodded at something behind Anakin and Tahiri. "Might want to get out of here before it gets worse again." 

Anakin turned and swore again – there _had_ been reinforcements on the way after all. They were just coming from the other side. 

"I'll get them," Kyp said, igniting his violet-silver blade, its _snap-hiss_ combining with the buzz of Anakin's. "You get the kids. And Tahiri," he added hurriedly, obviously anticipating an outburst from the girl. 

Anakin acknowledged this with a nod and whirled to face the turbolift shaft. The doors were closed, of course, and the lift itself was several floors down, but neither situation was much of a problem – not to two Jedi with lightsabres. He made four quick slashes, cutting a hole in the durasteel big enough for both him and Tahiri, then faced his friend. "Go," he told her, shutting off his blade. "You say you're ready for all this? Jump." 

Without even a moment's hesitation, she did so. A half-second later, Anakin followed, leaving the sounds and lights of the blasters and lightsabre behind, falling into a world of nothingness. Together, they hurled through the darkness. 

-- 


	8. kickass jedi master

--Gah, I posted this on my fic journal and TFN in _October_ (but, like, right at the end). Sorry it's taken so long to get it up here. And no, I haven't written more after this (that's a lie -- chapter 11 is almost complete, and chapter 10 is fully outlined -- chapter 9 is giving me many many difficulties.) 

--still don't own these guys, I'm afraid. 

---------- 

Kyp deflected all the blaster bolts aimed at him with a practised ease, though only a few could be sent right back at the group. He was trying not to be too shocked that Anakin and Tahiri had just jumped down a turbolift shaft – after all, what had he expected them to do? Run down the stairs he had just come from? Well, _yes_, actually. But he supposed that would have led them outside, not to the other two students – and it wasn't nearly dramatic enough an exit for a Solo. 

The Peace Brigaders were getting bolder, perhaps thinking that since he hadn't moved to attack them yet, he wasn't going to. Obviously, they'd been reading about all the wrong Jedi. 

As two of them ran towards him, blasters and stun batons in hand, Kyp shifted his weight forward a little, then jumped. He flipped right over his two attackers, landing behind them, then disarmed them as they spun round to face him again. One of them, staring at his useless blaster lying on the ground beside him, whirled round and escaped towards the outside stairs. The other stepped backwards, two grenades in his hand, and Kyp prepared to throw them back at him with the Force. But instead of throwing them at Kyp, the man dropped them into the lift shaft, then spun and followed his companion. 

Kyp swore and whirled round to deflect a fresh barrage of blaster bolts, stepping back towards the turbolift to see what he could do about the grenades. Suddenly, they appeared right in front of him, and Kyp grinned. Before Anakin's control faded completely, Kyp grabbed them with the Force and gave them a _push_ towards the group of Peace Brigaders, who were starting to approach him again. 

The men and women paused, then scattered, running back the way they had come from to try and escape the grenades. But the floating orbs followed them, round the corridor, and as Kyp spun round to try and remember where the next turbolift or set of stairs was – he didn't feel quite up to the Solo escape route – he heard the explosion behind him, and crossed ten more Peace Brigaders off the current threat list in his head. 

Which still left a rather long list – and those were only the ones he knew about. 

Taking a second to lean against the corner and figure out what way to go next, Kyp unhooked his comlink from his belt. He thumbed the switch, suddenly thankful he had instructed his astromech to stay fully-powered. "Teet," he muttered into the comm, holding it at an angle he could read the display from. "Do you read me?" 

FAR TOO LOUD AND CLEAR, KYP DURRON. The droid's whistles and tones accompanied the scrolling text, and Kyp quickly muted the comlink's output. 

"OK, good," he thought out loud, ignoring Teet's sarcasm. "Report on the situation in the hangar." 

DIM LIGHTING, BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE CURRENT SEASON ON THIS MOON— 

"Right, right. Anything unusual, I mean?" 

BESIDES THE TEMPERATURE AND LACK OF INSULTS FROM YOU? 

Kyp grimaced. He really should have given that droid a memory wipe when he got him, a few months earlier. An R5 unit like his previous astromech, Teet was old, worn, and very susceptible to bitter cynicism. _As soon as I get back to Coruscant,_ he told himself. "Yes," he answered simply. "And quickly." 

THERE ARE FIVE LIFEFORMS AT THE FAR SIDE OF THIS HANGAR. THREE HUMANS, TWO DEVARONIANS. 

"Hmm… Are they approaching you at all?" 

TWO OF THE HUMANS ARE HEADED IN THIS DIRECTION. 

Kyp frowned. "Make sure all systems are powered down and put yourself in stand-by mode…" 

I DO NOT THINK IT IS THIS FIGHTER THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT. 

That instantly made Kyp suspicious. Obviously there was something Teet had failed to mention. The only other ship in that hangar was Anakin's X-wing… "What's concerning them about Anakin's fighter?" 

POSSIBLY THE FACT THAT ITS REPULSORS HAVE JUST ENGAGED. 

Well, that _would_ worry them a little. But the last time Kyp had seen Anakin, he was jumping down a turbolift shaft, and not in the direction of the hangar. "His droid's flying it?" 

IN APPROXIMATELY TEN POINT TWO SECONDS, ITS ACTIONS WILL QUALIFY AS FLYING, YES. 

"All right, Teet. Follow him out, wherever he's headed, until I contact you again. Hopefully soon. Durron out." 

There was a brief pause, presumably as Teet started the pre-flight routines, then: 

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU, KYP DURRON. 

Well. Maybe he wouldn't give Teet a wipe as _soon_ as he got back to Coruscant. 

That was assuming he ever got himself and the droid off this rock in one piece, of course. The first step in doing so would be to join Anakin and the others, wherever they were. All Kyp had as a direction was 'down', assuming Anakin and Tahiri hadn't climbed _up_ the lift shaft. 

Clipping his comlink back to his belt, Kyp spun round to face the empty corridor, where the nearest working turbolift would be. As he ran towards it, hoping there were no Peace Brigaders in it, he reached out to try and sense Anakin. It wasn't hard: Anakin and Tahiri still had their bond open, and they were shining a brighter beacon in the Force than anything Kyp had felt before. 

The two of them were far underground, in a chamber Kyp knew as well as anyone who had attended the Academy. He could just about sense three other presences in the room, too: Ikrit and the two children. Not a bad hiding place for them, temporarily – Kyp had to give Anakin that. But with a total of six people and only two X-wings… they would have to steal a Peace Brigade ship. 

Easy enough to say, but how were they going to _do_ it? 

First thing to do would be to find one. That part was easy – there were three out on the landing pad in front of the temple, plus however many had been hiding from the Dozen out in space. A fair few undoubtedly – but hopefully not once Talon Karrde arrived. 

There was that, of course. They could just all wait until Karrde got here… but he wouldn't be able to stop at the temple _and_ the cave the kids were hiding in. As soon as Karrde found the students, Kam, and Tionne, he would get them out and far away from the Peace Brigade – and rightfully so. Even Anakin Solo wasn't worth risking the children's lives to save, let alone Kyp Durron. 

So if they wanted to leave with Karrde, they would have to make their way to whatever cave the students were in. Getting through the forest would be fine: Kyp knew the jungles of Yavin 4 like he knew the cockpit of his fighter, and he was willing to bet that Anakin, Ikrit and the kids – and Tahiri – did too. But along the river – and from the temple _to_ the river – was another story. They would be clearly seen from the air, and probably the upper levels of the temple, too. Traversing round to be fully under jungle cover was too slow… 

No, they would have to steal a Peace Brigade ship, Kyp decided. Probably one of the ones already out on the landing pad, if they hadn't moved them – and they probably hadn't. He could do that himself, then pick up the kids – there was enough room to get a ship down there. A small one, anyway. 

Oh… but he had promised Jaina to look after Anakin, and the others came under that promise too. Anakin could look after himself, as could Tahiri – in fact, they could look after each other. But what about the other two, whoever they were? And what if Anakin or Tahiri had been hurt? They'd just jumped down a lift shaft, after all. He would have to check on the group first, _then_ go and commandeer a Peace Brigade ship. 

Kyp sighed. He would have to remember to not make promises to Jaina Solo in future. Making them would probably ruin _all_ his plans like this. 

But he knew he'd do it anyway. 

That realisation unsettled him slightly. _Not a good thing… The last person I promised anything to is dead._

He shook his head and refused to think about that. He had a task to do here – make sure the kids were safe, and then steal a ship. Thinking about Alli would just get him killed – and then he'd be breaking his _other_ promise to Jaina. 

Kyp allowed himself a rueful smirk, then returned his attention to the present. He had reached the turbolift door, and was relieved to find it on this floor, and empty. He hit the call button to open it and stepped in, quickly pressing the button for the lowest basement level. 

Fortunately, the lift reached the bottom without interference from any Peace Brigaders. _Un_fortunately, that probably meant they were all on the bottom level already. 

Kyp's suspicions were confirmed a second later, when the doors opened and a blaster shot _pinged_ past him, hitting the back of the turbolift at an angle and bouncing back out. He ignited his lightsabre, its familiar _snap-hiss_ drowned out by blaster bolts, and stepped out into the corridor. 

There were ten Peace Brigaders here, all holding blasters, and all out in the open, cocky expressions on their faces. Suddenly, the blaster fire stopped for a second, and the cockiness fell away. 

"Wait a second," a blond-haired young man – boy, really – yelled in surprise. "You're not a kid!" 

"You're right," Kyp answered, slightly amused. "I'm not." 

"But he's still Jedi!" cried a woman across the corridor. 

Kyp held up his lightsabre and gave it an appraising look. "Well, you caught me. I guess the lightsabre wasn't a great disguise." 

"He's Kyp Durron!" another man yelled to his comrades. "Worth almost as much as the Solo brats!" 

"Almost? I'm hurt." He shook his head and sighed. Obviously these people intended to take him to the Yuuzhan Vong, probably for a decent price. But they weren't doing a very good job of it so far. _They better hurry up and – ah, there we go._

They were firing at him again – some to stun, some to kill. Well, they wouldn't be doing _that_ for long. 

Kyp moved away from the turbolift and advanced on the group slowly, deflecting all the energy bolts into the walls or back down the corridor. The men and women kept firing, backing away as they did so, at the same pace as him. With a smirk, he suddenly ran forward, surprising three of the Peace Brigaders enough that they stumbled and fell over each other – right into the path of another's stun bolt. Kyp called their dropped weapons to him with the Force and sliced through them with his lightsaber. 

One of the bolder ones still standing – the blond boy from earlier – rushed him, obviously hoping to get a close range shot in past Kyp's lightsabre. 

"What an idiot," Kyp muttered, stabbing at the boy's blaster with the edge of his blade – just as he fired. It exploded in his hand, eliciting a cry of pain from the boy as he stumbled into a wall and collapsed to the ground. 

_Four down…_ Kyp glanced round and noticed with annoyance that two of the Peace Brigaders had run away, round the far corner to the turbolift. Or the stairs, since that lift was now out of commission, he reminded himself. 

He couldn't let them get away. Not to the stairs, when Anakin and the others were down there. They already had enough to think about without two idiots with blasters getting involved. 

Kyp ran forward again, deflecting a stun bolt back at the woman who had fired it and yanking the blaster out of her hand using the Force. She fell back against the wall, unconscious, and the man beside her fired at Kyp as he ran past. Barely glancing round, Kyp swung his lightsabre at him, wincing slightly as the blade sliced off a couple of fingers along with the blaster. Well, _that_ would hurt the guy the next morning. 

Letting his instincts deflect the shots from the other two Peace Brigaders behind him, Kyp tried to concentrate on the men in front of him. They had skidded to a halt, staring at the wrecked turbolift in dismay. Then one of them nudged the other and pointed at the stairs. Kyp grimaced. Bringing the blaster up to aim in his left hand – his right still holding his lightsabre and deflecting shots back round the corner – he fired a stun bolt at the man closest to the stairs. 

As he dropped and fell partway down the stone steps, his comrade spun round and fired at Kyp. Kyp dropped to the floor and rolled, unable to deflect simultaneous shots from two different directions, and came up in a crouch a metre or so to the left. He brought up his blade to deflect another shot from the man at the stairs, and sighed when the scarlet bolt hit back at him right in the chest. And he'd managed so well without killing anyone up to now. 

The two Peace Brigaders behind him had stopped firing for a moment, and Kyp pushed up onto his feet and spun round to face them. They were approaching warily, blasters held ready to fire, then stopped about a metre away. Kyp stared at them for a second, then frowned. "Is this the part where you two try to subdue me on your own and get the whole prize for yourself?" 

One of them – a dark-haired man in his early twenties – scowled and nodded, moving to step forward. His female companion, a few years older than him, whacked him on the back of the head and took the blaster from his hand. "No," she answered, glaring at her partner. "This is the part where we give you the blasters and you let us go without killing us." 

Kyp pretended to consider that for a moment, lowering his violet blade slightly – but not switching it off. "Interesting proposition, but I think I'm going to go with 'no'." He waved his lightsabre at an open door to his left, and the woman stepped back from the blade nervously. "In there," he ordered them. 

The dark-haired man glanced at his partner, a hurt expression on his face. "You said he'd let us go!" 

The woman scowled up at Kyp, her dark blue eyes narrowed. "He's a Jedi. He's supposed to let us go." 

Kyp rolled his eyes. "I'm not _supposed_ to do anything. Now get in the storeroom and drag your little friends in with you. I'll take those," he added, snatching the blasters from the woman's hand before she could argue back. 

Once the nine remaining Peace Brigaders were crowded into the storeroom – most of them still unconscious, and all with their comlinks confiscated – the woman spoke up again. "Are you just going to leave us here?" she asked, incredulity creeping into her voice. 

"Sure," Kyp answered with a shrug, leaning against the doorway for a moment, his lightsabre disengaged but still in his hand. "There are enough rations in here for a couple days, then your Vong friends'll pick you up." 

The woman stared back at him, genuine fear in her eyes. "You're going to leave us to the Vong?" 

"Like _you_ were going to give the kids to them," Kyp shot back, trying to ignore her terrified expression. "With a little luck on your part, maybe you'll break out of here before they arrive – but _after_ we leave." 

The woman swallowed and glanced at her partner. The man scowled again. "You're scum, Jedi," he spat out. "Hypocritical scum." 

"Sure," Kyp repeated, false cheer in his voice. He pointed to the pile of ration packs in the corner. "Now be a good little boy and eat up all your dinner. Maybe you'll find some rations from _after_ the Alliance base was here, if you're lucky." 

He ignored the rest of the man's insults as he stepped backwards out of the room and let the door slide shut. When it was securely locked, he let out his breath slowly and clipped his lightsabre back onto his belt. Time to head down and check on the others. 

He hoped that was the last of the Peace Brigade this far down in the temple. He didn't like to leave terrified young women to almost certain death. 

_She was here to take the students to the Yuuzhan Vong,_ he reminded himself forcefully. _She's scum, just as much as all the others._

But her eyes, dark blue as the deep end of a Mon Calamari ocean, were Alli's eyes. 

----- 

As soon as Kyp stepped into the underground chamber, he knew something was wrong. Something was… missing. He looked round carefully, thankful for the shaft of light that banished most of the shadows, and frowned. 

The Jedi Master Ikrit lay atop a smooth rock by the hot spring, Valin Horn sat leaning against it on the floor, and the young Melodie girl Sannah sat opposite, her back against the far wall. She seemed to be levitating a small rock about a foot above the ground, while Valin tried – and failed – to hit it with pebbles. 

So there was Ikrit, Valin, and Sannah. But… Kyp groaned. "Where are Anakin and Tahiri?" 

"Nice to see you too, Master Durron," Sannah called to him cheerfully. Her concentration slipped and the rock fell, almost crashing into Valin's leg before he rolled out of the way. 

"Right, yeah. I'm glad you're all OK." Kyp shook his head distractedly, mildly annoyed that he'd just allowed himself to be chastised – however subtly – by a girl barely in her teens. "But where are they?" 

"They are climbing up to the surface," Ikrit's solemn voice informed him. "To procure us a ship." 

Kyp let out a sigh of relief. "So they're OK." Then he frowned. "Wait a second… _They're_ getting us a ship?" 

"Yes," Ikrit answered simply. 

"No. No no no. _I_ was going to do that." Kyp scowled. If it wasn't a promise to Jaina ruining his plans, it was her little brother's initiative. _Solos. Huh._

"_You_ wouldn't be able to climb up there." Valin's voice was full of scorn. "You need _two_ people to climb up _there_. Who'd catch you when you fall?" 

Kyp scowled again. "I wouldn't _fall_. I can climb up there just fine. Dorsk 82 and I did that a few times…" He trailed off, partly because the realisation that Dorsk 82 was dead – _because of the Vong_ – was a bitter one… and partly because he'd just proven Valin's point. Climbing to the surface from this room _was_ risky on your own. It required two Jedi, with a close enough bond that they could reinforce each other's strength for the climb, and Kyp didn't have that kind of bond with anyone anymore. "Just… whatever," he muttered. "I'm not getting into an argument with a ten-year-old." 

"I'm _twelve!_" Valin cried indignantly. 

"They're waiting up there until it's dark," Sannah told Kyp, shooting a warning glance at Valin. "Then they'll steal-" 

"Commandeer," Valin corrected her. 

"-a ship and fly it down here to get us," she finished, ignoring her friend's interruption. 

"So we're supposed to just wait down here for them?" 

"Yeah." 

"No," Kyp said firmly. "I can't just _wait_ down here." 

"That's what war is," Valin said wisely. "Hours of waiting and five minutes of action." 

Sannah frowned thoughtfully. "Isn't it long stretches of boredom and short bursts of fighting?" 

"Nah, my dad said-" 

"OK, kids, shut up." Kyp stared at them for a moment, trying to remember how you were supposed to deal with kids of this age. He wasn't really sure – by this point, the Solo kids had already gone to the Academy. He shook his head. "I don't care about quotes. I care about _plans_. What did Anakin say he'd do when he got you out of here?" 

Sannah shrugged. "I don't know. That's all he said." 

"He'll have a plan," Valin added quickly. "He just won't have told us it all." 

_Yeah, probably a plan involving flying real fast and hoping the bad guys don't catch us._ Kyp sighed. "I think I'm getting a bad feeling about this…" 

"Trust in the Force," Ikrit told him. "It will lead us to the path we must follow." 

"That's real nice and cryptic, Master Ikrit, but _doing_ something will get us there a lot faster." Kyp sighed again and leaned back against the nearest wall, letting himself slide down to sit on the stone floor. "How long is it until nightfall?" 

"Um…" Sannah glanced at her chrono – or rather, at the point on her wrist where her chrono should have been. She frowned and scrambled forward, pulling at Valin's arm and checking _his_ wrist-chrono. "Well, actually, about now. But it won't be dark until Yavin sets, in about three, four hours." 

Valin snatched back his arm and rubbed at his wrist as if there were some kind of irritant there. "You could have just asked me, you know," he said, glaring at Sannah. 

She shrugged. "This was faster. And more accurate." 

"Are you saying I'd lie?" 

"No, I'm saying you'd get the times all wrong because when you're _supposed_ to be paying attention to basic geography and astronomy lessons, you're daydreaming about being a fighter pilot." 

"It's not _daydreaming_, it's _visions_, because I _will_ be a fighter pilot. I'll be a _great_ fighter pilot, in Rogue Squadron, just like my dad was, and I'll go out fighting the Yuuzhan Vong, and win all my battles, and-" 

"Seriously, kids, shut up." Kyp glanced over at Ikrit. "Are they always like this?" 

"Usually," Ikrit yawned. He shifted to get into a more comfortable position. 

Kyp stared at him in disbelief. He was going to _sleep_. He was going to leave him to listen to the kids' argument and _sleep_- 

"You should, too, Master Durron," Ikrit murmured, half-asleep already. "There may not be an opportunity to do so for quite some time." 

Kyp blinked, then shrugged. Well, that was a fair point. "Kids," he called out, interrupting their argument – now about how much rain fell on Yavin Four in the average month. "Get some sleep before Anakin and Tahiri get back." 

"We have _names_, you know," Valin said, in the same indignant tone as before. He was quite good at that tone, thought Kyp. 

"Fine," he said, shrugging again. "Valin and Sannah, get to sleep." 

"No." 

"Yes." 

"No way. We're not tired." Valin glanced sideways at his friend. "Are we, Sannah?" 

She dutifully shook her head. "Not tired at all, Master Durron. Valin and I should stay awake anyway, in case Anakin or Tahiri needs to contact us." 

Kyp stared at her. "They've got comlinks." 

Sannah stared back stonily, not replying, and Kyp sighed. "Fine, fine, don't sleep. I guess I won't either." He glanced belatedly over at Ikrit for support, but realised the older Jedi Master was already asleep. 

"Don't you trust us, Durron?" Valin asked. In that same indignant tone. 

"If Anakin and Tahiri need to contact us," Kyp started, dodging the specified question, "it'll be because something's gone wrong. Which means I'll need to deal with it. And that's _Master_ Durron," he added, frowning slightly at Valin. 

Valin let out an irritated _hmph_. "You're not _my_ Master." 

"No," Kyp agreed, silently thanking that Force that this was so. "But I can still teach you, and you seem like you need a few lessons in respect." 

He tried not to think about the hypocrisy of that. 

"I don't need lessons from _you_ about anything. My dad'll teach me everything I need to know." 

"And Master Ikrit," Sannah pointed out. 

"And Master Ikrit, too," Valin conceded. 

"And Kam and Tionne and Master Skywalker." 

Valin sighed and shot a betrayed look at his friend. "And them too," he agreed. 

Kyp was now more amused than anything. "And apparently Sannah as well," he pointed out. 

"All right, all right, I get it already." Valin glared at Kyp, frustrated now. "But there's still nothing _you_ can teach me that they can't." 

Kyp found himself thinking about that for a second. Was there? What could he teach Valin, or Sannah, or Anakin, or anyone, that someone else couldn't teach them just as well? He could teach them lightsabre skills – but so could Kam, or Master Skywalker. He could teach them mind tricks – but without even thinking of the moral implications of that, so could Corran. He could teach them to fly an X-wing – but so could Master Skywalker, or Corran, or even Anakin. 

"I can teach you to think for yourself," he decided. 

"What?" 

"Tell me, Valin. What do you think about me?" 

Valin stared at him, then snorted. "I think you're an arrogant pompous idiot who thinks he's always right." 

"Don't hide your feelings," Sannah murmured. "Brutal honesty, now." 

Kyp couldn't help but smirk. "No, Valin, tell me what _you_ think of me. Not what your dad thinks." 

"I told you, I think…" Valin hesitated, then shrugged. "I think you're a good pilot," he admitted. 

"_Great_ pilot," Kyp corrected him, smirking again at Valin's glare. "What about the Yuuzhan Vong? What do you think of them?" 

"I know they're nasty and evil and always lie. And break promises. And we need to get them out of our galaxy." 

Kyp let out his breath slowly. "Have you ever met one?" 

"I- no." Valin frowned. "Of course not. I've been stuck at the Academy the whole time." 

"Right. So how come you 'know' all that about them?" 

"Because-" He hesitated again. "Because my dad told me so. And I heard your pilots talking about them." 

Kyp nodded. "It's mostly true, of course. But _you_ don't know that for yourself." He frowned. "And to be honest, I hope you never _have_ to know. Maybe that's one thing you _should_ just trust everyone else on," he conceded with a sigh. 

There was a few moment's pause, and then Valin sighed, frustrated. "Is that it? All you're going to teach me?" he demanded. 

Kyp looked at him, more than a little bemused. "You said you didn't _want_ me to teach you anything." 

"Yeah, but you can't give me half a lesson and then not tell me the point behind it." 

Kyp gave him a rueful smile. "The point is, Valin, that you need to form your own opinions. You can't trust other people to tell you things objectively – that's how things like falling to the dark side happen. Think things through for your_self_, and trust your own instincts. Lesson one over," he added in a slightly mocking tone, and shifted back into a more comfortable position against the wall. 

Another moment passed, then Valin nodded reluctantly. "I'm still allowed to _listen_ to other people though, right?" 

The kid was taking this far more seriously than Kyp had thought he would. "Of course you can," he replied, carefully studying Valin for any signs of mockery. But he couldn't see any – just a little doubt in the boy's face. "Just don't treat their words like the only truth there is. No one in the galaxy is a hundred percent right about everything." 

"Even my dad?" 

_Especially your dad,_ Kyp thought, smirking. "Even the mighty Corran Horn," he told the boy, nodding seriously. 

"Oh." Valin frowned and shuffled sideways, back against the rock he had been leaning on. 

Sannah, who had been leaning half-asleep against his shoulder, jolted awake just as she fell to the floor. She rubbed at her head and glared up at Valin, then yawned and shifted up beside him again. "Bantha brain," she murmured sleepily, yawning again and trying to make herself comfortable against the rock and her friend. 

Valin yawned as well, and closed his eyes as he rested his head back against the spring-warmed stone. "Sorry," he muttered. 

_So they go to sleep bafter/b annoying me._ Kyp rolled his eyes, but couldn't help a slight smile. They were almost _cute_, sleeping against the rock, leaning on each other like that. Highly annoying, but cute. How deceiving sleep could be. 

Well, no harm in catching some sleep himself. Ikrit was right, he might not have a chance for a while. He'd wake up if anything were happening. 

He closed his eyes and shifted against the wall again. Within minutes, he was asleep, warm and comfortable in this familiar setting. If only it could last more than just a couple of hours. 

----- 


End file.
